


Birdie

by Kburgenstein



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-21
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:15:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 31,011
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22340920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kburgenstein/pseuds/Kburgenstein
Comments: 4
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

I stumbled onto the doorstep of a doorless building late at night, shaking the rain off myself. I knocked on the door frame and pulled my jacket hood up to keep my head dry, but it and my head were already drenched. Heavy footsteps grew louder from inside, and a tall, woman of copper came into view. She greeted me with a warm smile and a puff of steam from her cheeks. “Hel-llo there. Are y-you lost?” I nodded. She frowned. “No, that w-won’t do. Come inside.” She led me into the building. “Are ya hurt?”

“My… shoulder.” I looked down at the puddle gathering at my feet. “It’s not bad.”

“David’s good at shoulders, ” she giggled.

What’s that supposed to mean? I thought.

She took my arm and directed me down a dark corridor. “My name’s R-Rabbit. What’s yours-s?”

“Clarke.”

Rabbit stopped at a closed curtain blocking our view from the space behind it. An eerie red light glowed through it. She tapped on the wall beside the space. “Dav-vid? Ya in there?”

“Rabbit, it’s late. Go back to Bunny’s room,” came a voice on the other side. I could only assume it was David.

She sighed. “We have an i-issue.”

David sighed, and the curtain opened. The red got brighter, and a man with white skin- not pale, but white- and blue lips and hair glared at Rabbit. Maybe it was makeup, but why would he be wearing a full face of makeup so late for no reason? I nervously stepped behind her. “Can it wait until morning?” He caught sight of me then closed the curtain. “Who did you drag here this time?”

“This is C-Clarke.” Rabbit stepped to the side so David was back in my field of vision. “They’re hurt.”

David sighed again. “They don’t look hurt to me.”

“It’s their should-der.”

He ran a white hand over his face, no color changed, so either he had impeccable application skills or that was just actual skin. “Alright. To the HoW. Clarke, I’ll take you. Rabbit needs to go back to Bunny.” He glared at her again. She pouted and trudged off.

“The nerve of that robot…” David yawned. “This way.” He nodded toward the other end of the hall. I walked by his side. “So what brings you here, Clarke?” He glanced down at me. I felt tiny standing beside him.

“I’m lost.”

“This is San Diego, if that helps.”

My brows furrowed. “Where’s that?”

“California.”

“What’s that?” I looked up to his face.

He sighed, starting to look annoyed. “Do you know anything?”

I felt even smaller. “I never went to school.”

“Crap, I’m sorry. Uh, California is a state on the farthest west part of the United States of America. San Diego is in the southern part of California called… well, Southern California. Or SoCal, for tourists.” He opened the only door I’d seen in the entire building and let me in before him.

“What’s west? And southern?”

He dropped his voice down to a whisper. “Shh, someone’s in here. We gotta be quiet.” He led me to a corner of the red-tinted room, where a table with a lamp dangling from wires attached to the ceiling stood beside a rolling cart with a tray full of sharp-looking instruments. He dug around a messy desk then picked up a piece of paper and a pencil. He drew something on it and showed me.

“This is a compass. It’s what we use to tell which direction we’re going. No one uses them anymore, but they used to be one of the most important things we carried. I had to use one when I first got here.” He set the paper on the table and the pencil on top of it. “Go ahead and sit up there and take your shirt off, if it’s not too painful. I gotta get some supplies.” He turned the lamp on and went into another room within the one we were in. Probably a closet or something.

I sat on the table and experimentally lifted both my arms before trying to take my shirt off. I cried out as my wound screamed in pain. I put my arms back down. David came back in with a worried expression. “That sounded awful.” He dropped a bandage and scissors on the table. “Let me help you.” He reached out toward me, and I tensed up. “I won’t hurt you. On purpose, at least. Promise.”

I was still stiff as I let him attempt to get my shirt off. He watched my face for signs of pain as he did so. “Just let me know if it hurts too badly.” He carefully moved my arms up so he could pull the shirt off, the fabric pressed against the wound, and I sucked in a breath. He stopped. “Hurts?” I nodded. “Which part of your shoulder?”

“It’s, er, it’s not my shoulder.”

He looked confused. “Then what is it?”

I bit my lip. “Don’t freak out?”

“Clarke, it’s kinda hard to freak out at anything anymore. I’m white and blue, for God’s sake. How bad can it be?”

I slowly lifted my shirt, and huge, black wings spilled out of it. The left one dangled pathetically while the right one rested by my side. I took my shirt the rest of the way off now that it wouldn’t rub against the wound and set it in my lap. David’s jaw dropped. “Incredible,” he whispered. He slowly reached toward the undamaged one then stopped. “May I?” I hesitantly nodded. He grinned as he slowly dug his hands into the feathers. I drew in a sharp breath. “Did that hurt?” He looked up from the wing.

I shook my head. “They’re a little sensitive.”

David calmed his movements as he continued to toy with the one wing, whispering things like “amazing,” “gorgeous,” “awesome.” He cleared his throat as he took his hands away. “So the other one’s hurt, yes?”

I nodded. “Do you know how to fix it?”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t, but I can try.”

“It’s just like any other wound. With some… minor differences.”

He scoffed. “’Minor differences.’ Where is it?”

I directed him to it, and he immediately began working on it, mumbling to himself. “Are you staying here?”

The question took me aback. “I don’t know…”

“Well, you have to stay the night so I can look at the wound in the morning, but then, you’re on your own. You have the option of staying here, though. Hold that there.”

I did. “I don’t want to intrude.”

“It’s entirely up to you. Don’t feel pressured.” He mumbled something else then took one of his gloves off and ran the bare hand over his balding head. He put it back on then continued. “This is so cool, honestly. I’ve never worked on a wing before.”

“No one else can know about it, okay? Just between us.”

He nodded as he repeated “just between us.”

After he wrapped the injured wing in bandages, he took his gloves off and tossed them into the room he got the supplies from earlier. “You can stay in here, or we have a guest bedroom. It really depends on who you want to wake up to.”

“What?”

“The Spine is in here at night, and GG, a robot giraffe, is in the guest bedroom.”

“You guys have a robot giraffe?”

He laughed softly, taking the pair of goggles around his neck off. “Yeah, she’s somethin’ else. Not the best for mornings, though. Or any time. She’s kinda annoying.”

“And The Spine?”

“He’s cool. Really calm. Doesn’t like to be disturbed. The most introverted bot in the manor. Always sounds disappointed.” He leaned against the table. “He makes weird noises when he starts up. Like really weird. Very, very, tall…”

He continued on for a bit, then I stopped him. “You’re babbling.”

“Right. Sorry. Well, there’s a couch in that room.” He nodded toward the room he got the supplies from. “I’ll let you get some sleep.” He patted my knee then walked off, then he stopped. “And your secret’s safe with Spine. He doesn’t tell anyone anything.” He continued the trek to the door. “Night, Spine!”

“Goodnight, David,” a deep voice called from the pit of the dangling wires.

I drew my wings back, but the left one wouldn’t curl up like the right one did. I sighed as I turned the lamp off and took my shirt into the room.

-

Sleep didn’t come easily, but I woke up feeling actually rested, something I hadn’t felt in a long time. I stretched, my wing stretching out knocked me off the couch. I landed with a small “oof” then tried to get up, but I found I couldn’t. My hurt wing had gotten stuck and wasn’t able to roll from the position I was in.

Footsteps drew closer, and I felt a presence in the room. “Are you alright?” the same deep voice from the night before asked. I did my best to look up to see a tall silver man- who looked strikingly similar to David- in a fedora leaning in the doorway.

“Yes, thank you. I could use some help up, though.”

“Of course.” He stepped over me and lifted the couch enough for me to bring my wing toward me. He set it down and held his hands out as I turned over. I took them, and he pulled me onto my feet. I brushed the dust off my pants.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Are you the newcomer Rabbit’s telling me about?”

“Yeah, I’m Clarke.”

“The Spine.” He shook my hand with a polite nod. “Are you injured?”

“Yeah, my wing.” I reached back and pulled my wing in front of me as much as I could.

He motioned for us to sit on the couch. “May I ask what happened?”

I rolled my wings up as much as possible to give him more room. “I hit a sharp rock.”

“May I see one?”

I rolled the right one out into his lap. He carefully ran a metallic hand over it. “Incredible,” he muttered. He ran his fingers through the feathers then grabbed the one white white one out of the black. I sucked in a sharp breath. He stopped his movements. “Is something wrong?”

“Sensitive.”

He puffed out steam from his neck. “I see.” He took his hands away. “How do they go back in?”

“They roll up.”

He raised an eyebrow. “And it looks normal?”

“They go into my body. I have slits in my shoulders where they grew.”

“Does it hurt?”

I nodded. “Sometimes. Only when they stay in for a long time.”

“Why don’t you just keep them in and let it heal?”

“Because they need to have space every once in a while.”

“I can understand that. I have retractable spines.”

“You do?”

“Would you like to see them?” he asked softly.

I nodded.

He leaned forward, and sharp-looking fins came out of where his spinal column would be had he been human. It clicked and mechanics whirred as The Spine released more steam. I reached out hesitantly. “You can touch it.” He smiled warmly. I ran one finger over the edge of one and ran it down to the base. He shuddered as more steam filled the room. “They’re also quite sensitive.”

I set my hand in my lap. My stomach grumbled. The Spine chuckled. “The others should be eating breakfast right now. I can bring something back for you, if you’d like.”

I nodded. “That’d be great.”

“I will return shortly,” he announced.

“Thanks, Spine.”

“You’re welcome, Clarke.” He stood and left, leaving me to my own devices. I flipped myself upside down and let my wings dangle off the couch and sprawl across the floor. My hair stood straight up, creating a weird pulling feeling at my head.

When the door opened then closed again, I quickly- and painfully- sucked my wings into my back. Someone let out a deep breath they’d been holding. I expected to see Spine come in, but David was in his place with a handful of tiny muffins.

“Are you okay?” I turned right-side-up.

“Yeah, I’m good. Too many people in a small space, is all. Happens all the time.” He gave me the muffins. “What happened to your shirt, by the way?”

“You saw how torn it is.” I popped a whole muffin into my mouth.

He shrugged. “I wasn’t paying attention to it, actually. Better things to focus on, I guess.” He knelt in front of the couch. “Where’d they go?”

I slowly brought the wings out, eating another muffin, and David looked absolutely horrified. Which is an awesome thing to see, especially when you’re exposing the thing you’re ashamed of.

“They go into your back?” He took the injured one and checked its bandages under the feathers. “That’s not good,” he muttered.

“What is it?”

He looked up. “How did you get this?”

“I hit a sharp rock.” I ate the last muffin and brushed my hands free of crumbs they left.

“Must’ve been a pretty pissed rock.” He took the bandage off then took out something resembling a cellphone and typed something into it. He sighed as he put it away. “Don’t move.” He went into the other room, and the main door opened and closed behind me.

“Where’s David?” The Spine asked.

“In there.” I nodded toward the room.

“Spine, make sure they don’t move!” David yelled.

The Spine looked confused but did it anyway. “Has he told you what’s wrong yet?”

I shook my head. He puffed out steam. “Should I be worried?”

“I can’t tell. For now, just trust David. He’s good at this kind of thing.”

“He’s never worked on a wing before.”

“But he catches on quickly. Just trust me on this one.” He glanced at my injured wing then furrowed his brows as he reached for it. He frowned and looked at his finger. “I’ll be back.” He went into the room, and I heard his hushed but distressed voice talking to David.

David came out instead of The Spine, pulling on gloves. “Jesus, Clarke,” he muttered.

“Did I do something?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“Like what?”

He slowly stepped toward me. “Don’t kill me.” He winced as he pressed a finger into my wound. I cried out, screwing my eyes shut. The sting it left wasn’t terrible, but watching David scrape black liquid from his finger into a circular tray was pretty horrible to look at. “Is your blood normally black?”

I shook my head. “It’s darker than most’s but not black.”

“Has it been black before?”

“Never.”

He sighed. “It’s gonna take a while to get this figured out. For right now, it got infected overnight. You’re gonna have to keep your wings out until it’s healed. Meaning if you wanna keep your secret, you can’t come out of here.”

I shook my head frantically. “No. Anything but that, please.”

David frowned. “It sucks, I know. You have other options, but that’s only if you don’t keep the secret.”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Look, everyone around here is accustomed to the abnormal. We’ve all seen worse than a pair of wings. If you’re willing to let the others see them, you don’t have to stay in here. But if you aren’t Willing to do that, you’ll stay in here. Either myself or The Spine will bring you food and water, there’s a bathroom behind a shelf in that room. The wires are cool.”

“But they’ll get bumped all the time, and it’ll hurt-”

“We have painkillers, and we won’t touch them without permission,” The Spine said as he came in.

“I don’t know…”

“The choice is yours, but I advise the former.”

“What’s a former?”

“Right. I advise the first option: not staying in here. It gets kinda lonely after a while.”

The Spine did the robot equivalent of wrinkling his nose. “No, it doesn’t.”

“Some of us need some interaction every once in a while, Spine.”

“But I’ve been in here a lot longer than you have. More than anyone in the manor. I’ve been just fine.”

“Qwerty hasn’t left. Ever.”

“Qwerty isn’t over a hundred years old.”

“But he’s been here longer than you have.”

“He has the option to leave.”

“So do you.”

I watched them go back and forth for a short time, then pain shot through my injured wing. I doubled over and grabbed at it, gritting my teeth. They both stopped and looked at me with practically the same concerned expression. “Clarke?” David’s voice shook slightly. He gently touched the area around my wing wound. “Spine, get ice. Now. Clarke, how’re you feeling?”

I reached up for his shoulder and raked by fingernails down as hard as I could to try to mimic what I felt. He squeaked. “O-okay, painkillers. Where are the- there we go.” He grabbed a tube of a strange-colored liquid with a needle on the end and, before I could protest, jabbed it into my arm, emptying it into wherever it was supposed to go. “Tell me when it gets better. Until then, uh, just squeeze my arm or something.” I grabbed his forearm and squeezed until I only felt the pressure of my hand rather than my wing throbbing. He did his best to keep quiet.

“Better,” I whispered as I loosened my grip. He sighed in relief.

The Spine returned with a plastic bag of ice wrapped in a cloth in his hands. “David, are you in pain?” I felt my eyelids get heavier.

“They’re very strong,” he squeaked, rubbing his arm where I had held it. He turned back to me. “Painkillers working?” He grabbed a fluffy ball and pressed it against the skin where he put the needle.

“What is it supposed to do?”

“Make it hurt less. It can make you drowsy, too.”

“Is that what that is?” I mumbled. Even though I’d never taken painkillers- or any medecine, for that matter- I was surprised at how quickly it was working.

David laughed softly. “I have to patch you up, then you can go back to sleep, okay?”

“M’kay.” I vaguely felt him putting a clean bandage on the wound. I heard quiet humming, from The Spine or David, I couldn’t tell, but it was nice.

David stopped and set my wing down. “Alright, you’re all set. Are you sober enough to walk?” By then, I was already drifting in and out of consciousness. “Apparently not,” he chuckled. He carefully picked me up. My wings, on their own accord, wrapped around him. My head fell onto his bony shoulder. He took me into the other room and tried to set me down on the couch, but my wing locked into place, again on its own accord. “You’re gonna have to let go at some point, Clarke.”

“’M trying.” I focussed on moving the one wing, but it wouldn’t budge. “Stupid wing,” i mumbled. David set me on my feet and tried to untangle himself, but found he couldn’t without hurting me.

“Hey, Spine, I need to ask you a favor,” David called.

The Spine came in and sighed. “What do you need?”

“Help get them off me? We’re kinda stuck.”

Steam poured into the room as his hands grabbed at my wing. I shuddered as the chill of his metal touched the white feather in the middle of the wing. He pushed David away and untangled his arm from around me. “Can you move it now?”

I experimentally stretched it out, and it actually moved. David looked almost disappointed. “I gotta go clock in.” He left quickly.

The Spine watched him go then turned back to me. “Do you have any clothes other than that shirt?” I shook my head. “I think I have some of David’s old clothes. Would that suffice?” I nodded. “How do your wings go out of them?”

“Through slits in the back,” I mumbled, sitting on the couch.

“I’ll see what I can do. Get some rest.”

He didn’t have to tell me twice.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up sprawled across the floor in the middle of the HoW. I sat up and glanced around at the bare walls. The wires above my head seemed to look down on me. I didn’t think anyone was in the room until I heard rustling among the wires. “Clarke?” The Spine’s voice called out from above me. I looked around for him and, seeing no one, frowned. The Spine’s head with a long silver tail attached where his neck would’ve been slithered down a wire toward me. I slowly backed away from it. The Spine frowned. “Are you alright?” “Are you- where’s your body?” Realization struck him. “It’s on the couch. I can detach my spine from the rest of my body and move around like a snake. It creeps everyone out at first, but you get used to it.” He slid onto the floor. “I do require some assistance in getting back into my body, if you would.” He moved up my arm and onto my shoulder. I stood and took him into the other room, where a couple neatly folded stacks of clothes was set on the couch beside The Spine’s sagging body. I held my arm out toward it so he could reattach his head to his body. He stood. “I took the liberty of getting you some clothes.” “Thanks, Spine.” I took the shirt I’d borrowed from him off and put one from the stack on. I struggled to get my wings through the slits. It’d been a while since I’d had an intact shirt. It felt greater than I remembered. “Do you need this back?” I held up the shirt. He shook his head and shifted his weight from foot to foot. “Not particularly. Are you hungry?” “I… I don’t know. I can’t tell anymore.” The Spine frowned. “We’ll get you some food.” He gestured for me to follow him. We went out of the HoW, and for a moment, I was okay with my wings being exposed, then I saw other people and froze. The Spine noticed and turned around. “Is something wrong?” “I can’t go out there.” My wings started to roll up. I forced them back out. The Spine’s brows came together. “It’ll be alright. They won’t even notice it.” He offered me a small smile. He turned back around, and his fins came out as he continued walking. I followed him hesitantly. No one was in the kitchen other than Chelsea and Camille, who were quietly talking over their food. I grabbed an apple out of a bowl on the counter and took a bite out of it. The Spine got some water and drank it all. Camille called his name. He looked up from the glass he was refilling. “Yes, Miss Camille?” “Have you seen David?” He shook his head. “Not since this morning. Perhaps he’s still working.” “Yeah, we’re pretty busy today. Rabbit ate a Moon Pie again.” Chelsea chuckled then went serious in a second. “My hands hurt.” Camille nodded in agreement. The Spine sighed a puff of steam from his neck. “Good luck with that.” As they talked, I waited for either of the girls to mention my wings, but they never did. Neither of them even glanced at me or them. Maybe they weren’t ever going to; maybe this was their “normal.” “Anyway, we gotta get back to work. Nice wings, by the way, Clarke,” Chelsea said as she and Camille began to leave the room. The Spine turned to me. “See? I told you it wasn’t a huge deal.” He smiled. “There’s nothing to worry about.” He suddenly stiffened and released steam from every vent in his chassis. “Camille,” he scolded, slowly turning around. She was running off with a a cluster of feathers on a stick in her hand. Mine suddenly felt threatened. “Stupid feather duster,” The Spine grumbled. “Were those real feathers?” I asked with a startled tone. The Spine’s face softened. “No, the feathers are not real.” He straightened his already impeccable tie. “I’m going to the library, if you’d like to accompany me.” I nodded, and he led the way down another hall into a huge room full of books. He instantly began walking along the shelves slowly. I grabbed a random book out of a stack on a nearby table and sat in a comfy-looking chair. I opened it and stared at the jumbled shapes in rows varying in size. None of it made any sense to me whatsoever, but I’d always wanted to try reading. I flipped to the first page with a big vertical line toward the center of the page with a small patch of those shapes under it. A tall shadow was cast over me, and I looked up to see what had caused it. “Would you like some help?” The Spine asked softly. I nodded. He gently took the book from me and looked at the cover. He frowned. “Come with me.” I set the book down and followed him to a corner with books stacked on either side of a small couch and a bookshelf off to the side. He grabbed one off one of the shelves and sat down with it, patting the space beside him as an offer to join him. I sat and looked at the page he turned to. A round shape with a line going down the side was printed largely on it with a picture of an apple. He explained that that “letter” was “a,” the first letter of the alphabet. “What’s an alphabet?” I crossed my legs. “It’s a series of symbols that makes up our language. There are twenty six in the English alphabet.” “Twenty six?” I pulled my hurt wing into my lap and fiddled with one of the feathers. “It’s simple, really. It shouldn’t take too long to learn just the alphabet, but you can’t even begin to read until you know it.” “What does ‘a’ do?” “Mainly, it fills in gaps between other letters to make words.” “What’re the other letters?” He flipped the page. A huge straight line with two sideways bumps on the right side took up most of the page, and a blue circular object took up the rest. “This is ‘b.’ It’s one of the letters ‘a’ connects. Like ‘ball.’ It starts with ‘b,’ then ‘a,’ then two ‘l’s.” “Where are the ‘l’s?” He smiled a little. “We’ll get to that later. After the letters that come before it.” I perked up. “Then what’re we waiting for?” His smile widened. The Spine and I went through the entire alphabet then started on a simple book. I almost fell asleep, but I was determined to at least read one book. The Spine was very patient with me when I couldn’t get through a few of the words. I found myself leaning against him as I grew more tired throughout the book. The Spine didn’t say anything but offered his shoulder as a pillow. I woke up lying on the same couch but alone. My wing had been draped over the rest of my body as a blanket. I sat up and let my wings dangle around me. The book I’d initially tried to read upon going into the library was open and set down pages first. I looked around the room for any signs of life, mechanical or organic, but was only met with a tiny robot giraffe- GG- sitting on top of a shelf on the other side of the room. At my movement, she perked up and seemed to grin. “Clarke!” She jumped down and trotted to me then jumped on the couch beside me. “I thought you’d never wake up,” she said very very loudly. “Those are some cool wings.” She tucked herself under the right one and curled up in a tiny mechanical ball. “Where’d The Spine go?” She pouted. “He’s with Matter Master David for maintenance.” I lifted my wing off her. “What time is it?” “They just had dinner. You can still get some food from the kitchen, if you’re hungry.” “Thank you.” I stood and started to leave then stopped. “Was someone reading that book?” She nodded excitedly. “David was. He’s already read it four times.” I raised my eyebrows. “Today?” “No, silly. That book’s older than me.” “How old are you?” “No one knows. Go eat.” I didn’t question her further and slowly went out of the library and tried to remember where I was going. On the way, I bumped into The Spine, who was puffing enough steam to create an entire cloud. He rushed to apologize then looked down at me and smiled slightly. “You just missed dinner, but David saved you some pizza in the fridge.” He straightened his tie and released more steam. “O-okay. Are you alright, Spine?” “Oh, I’m fine. Filled my boiler a little too much, that’s all. Excuse me.” He went passed me and into the library. I stared at the opening for a moment then walked off toward what I remembered as the kitchen. David was sat at the long table with an empty glass in his hand, staring down into it. He briefly looked up at me then back into the cup. “There’s pizza in the fridge. Thought you’d be hungry.” “Thanks.” I opened the fridge door. “What’s is supposed to look like?” He looked up with a disbelieving expression. “You don’t know what pizza is?” “I don’t know the names of most of the food I ate before I came here.” “It’s a triangle… it has- can you count?” “The prefix ‘tri’ means ‘three.’ I’m assuming it has three sides?” “Y-yeah. I thought you never went to school.” I looked in the fridge and took out a box I’d often see with a word starting with a “p,” like pizza, and opened it to reveal, yes, pizza. “My brother read his English textbooks to me when I was a kid. I’m not entirely stupid.” His mouth opened and closed like a fish, obviously looking for a response that didn’t have a chance of offending me. “But you weren’t calling me stupid. I know.” I closed the fridge and sat at the table with one seat between us. He nodded. “Have you decided yet?” Knowing immediately what he was talking about, I nodded. “I’ll stay long enough for my wing to heal completely, but I don’t know about afterward. I haven’t decided on that yet.” I started eating. “Speaking of your wing, I gotta do a check-up on you pretty soon. Maybe after you eat?” I nodded. He stood. “I’m gonna check on the others.” He left the glass on the counter as he walked off with a sigh. I silently ate then went back to the HoW when I was done. David was already there, staring up at the wires with his arms crossed but sympathy on his face. He didn’t pay me attention as he reached up for a taunting wire hovering over him. “Spine, you gotta come down at some point!” he yelled. “We have your body down here. You’ll need water eventually.” Getting no response, he sighed and looked at me. “You wouldn’t happen to be able to fly, would you?” I shook my head. “I thought so,” he sighed again. “Let’s get that wing taken care of.” He went toward the table in the corner. I followed him and sat on it. He picked up the injured wing and made a face. “We gotta wash these. No offense, but they’re kinda gross.” David led me down the hall with his hand hovering cautiously over my back. He stopped at the same curtain Rabbit brought me to the night I came to the manor and opened it enough for him to disappear into the room behind it. I almost felt his sigh from the other side. Something fell, and he swore under his breath and whispered something to seemingly nothing. The curtain eventually opened again, and the red tint of the room hit me in the face. David vaguely gestured for me to enter, and I did, trying my best to keep my massive wings from bumping into the doorway or the curtain. The injured one hit the curtain, and it hissed as it burned the feathers around the area it touched. I jerked it back painfully and stifled a whine. David frowned. “Is it okay?” I shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt too badly.” “I should’ve warned you: almost everything in this room is hijacked. I made a functioning door out of the curtain with Blue Matter a few years ago. It’s dangerous for those not already poisoned. This way.” He went toward another room connected to the room we were in. “Poisoned?” He nodded. “It’s why we’re white and blue. It comes from working with the automatons.” He flipped a light on, and a soft but harsh blue cascaded over the room, creating purple between the two rooms. “Makes us more immune to further radiation poisoning, though. You can bathe yourself, right?” He shot me a hopeful look. “I should be able to.” He sighed from relief. “Thank God. I’ll leave you to it.” He stepped out and pulled the curtain separating the two rooms. The purple light vanished. When I finished, I put my clothes back on and opened the curtain hesitantly. David and Walter Worker Chelsea were laying on his bed, their limbs tangled in the other’s. Chelsea was still as the dead and looked like the dead- I was pretty sure she was dead- and David was fiddling with the goggles on top of her head. When he noticed me, he jumped and was quick to get up. Chelsea stirred- definitely not dead- and he went rigid, watching her carefully. When she settled down again, he relaxed. “Back to the HoW,” he whispered as he held the curtain open. I tucked my wings up close to me to avoid getting burned again as I went out into the hall. He followed me back to the HoW. “Spine?” David called, walking toward the wires again. “Would you mind keeping an eye on Chelsea? She hit her head on Rabbit.” A bunch of wires came down, and The Spine’s spine and head lowered down to David’s eye level. “Did you move my body?” “Only a little. You about crushed Clarke.” The Spine looked to me, and I shrugged. “She’s in my room.” The Spine puffed out steam. “Is that dumb door on?” David sighed. “It doesn’t affect you. We’ve been over this.” He led me to the table. I sat on it and waited for he and The Spine to stop bickering at each other. When they finally did, David continued about Chelsea. “She’s asleep right now, but she’s stumbling when she walks and complaining about dizziness. Rabbit feels pretty bad about it, too. Bunny’s handling her.” “She’s been fussing for an hour and a half now. Take me to your room.” “You’re so grumpy.” I heard a grin in David’s voice. He held out his arm, and The Spine slid onto it. “I’ll be back, Clarke.” I swung my leg over the other side of the table and lay down, letting my wings fall on their respective sides with my arms stretched out. David returned shortly after with The Spine’s hat. He tossed it straight up, and one of the wires quickly snatched it out of the air. “Are the wires alive?” I folded my hands over my stomach. “Sort of. There not really sentient, but they have sentient qualities. They like The Spine, so they listen to him and know not to do things that upset him, like let his hat fall on the floor. But if I were to climb up there, they’d probably drop me without hesitation.” “Do they not like you?” “They think I’m trying to be The Spine.” He didn’t notice the lone wire slowly coming toward him until it slapped the back of his head then retreated back to the others. I snorted. “You do look a bit like him.” “And sound like him.” I furrowed my eyebrows. “Not really.” He lowered his voice substantially and said “I could be The Spine if I really wanted to.” I blinked. “Jesus.” He looked over his shoulder. “It’s pretty wild.” He carefully lifted my injured wing. I took deep breaths. He looked up at me. “Did that hurt?” I shook my head. The door opened, and Camille came in with black splotches all over her dress and face. “Hey, David, do you know where Zer0 went? Hey, Clarke.” I vaguely waved as David glanced up at her. “No, I haven’t. Is something wrong with him?” “He spewed oil on me and feels bad and has been hiding since.” She went to the other side of the table and wiped her arm across her forehead. David sighed. “Is something wrong with their wing?” “It’s infected. Has the oil dried yet?” “On my dress? Most definitely.” He sighed again, louder. “Hand me the tweezers.” He held his hands out and returned it to my wing with what I figured was tweezers. “Clarke, why didn’t you tell me you got shot?” He pulled out a metal cylinder from my wing and set it to the side. I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the dull ache that had blanketed over my wing. “It’s a few years old.” “So you’ve just had a bullet in your wing for years? You’re lucky I could get it out before anything grew around it. And now it’s bleeding, shit, shit, shit- Camille, towels. Like four.” He looked down at his pants then back at the wing. “And it’s still black. Camille!” His hands fumbled around my head and on my wing. I cried out as a wave of searing pain hit me like a ton of bricks. Something soft was pressed against my wound, and Camille took my hand. I squeezed it tight, and she yelped. “Can we put them under?” “No, I need them awake. Clarke, how much does it hurt?” I reached for his shoulder, but he moved it out of my reach. “Okay, it’s pretty bad. Is it okay if we give you painkillers?” I nodded. Camille let go of my hand. “We don’t wanna kill them. Yeah, that’s good.” Camille took my arm carefully. “It might hurt a little.” I laughed. That fool.


	3. Chapter 3

Camille’s room had a multitude of colors in it, but the one that shown the most out of all of them was a blue that almost matched her hair and lips. She pulled out the chair from under the desk in the corner and sat in it, picking a book up and beginning to read it. She glanced up at me where I stood awkwardly in the doorway. “You can sit on my bed. You want a book?” 

I sat on the edge of the bed and tucked my wings self-consciously close to me. “Umm, I can’t read that well. I’m just learning.” 

She flipped to the beginning of the book and began reading aloud. I lay down and spread my wings out, listening to the words flow but not paying attention to what was being read. It’d been a really long time since anyone had read anything to me, and the material was almost never an actual story. I watched the colors dance over the ceiling. 

I woke up to Camille shaking my shoulder slightly. She smiled softly down at me. “I gotta get in bed.” I wordlessly moved so she could lay down, trying to bring only the right wing in to no avail. I wrapped my hurt wing around myself, and Camille lay on top of my outstretched one. She twirled one feather around one of her fingers. Surprisingly, I barely felt it, and what I did feel didn’t make me want to tears her hands off her arms. I almost liked it. Her hands were so soft compared to David’s and The Spine’s. Of course, Spine’s were metal and David worked with his all the time. 

Camille’s hand brushed over the white feather in the middle of the black, and I tensed up. Noticing this, she looked up at me. “Did I hurt you?” I shook my head. “Can I continue?” 

I nodded, slowly going limp. “Just not that feather.” 

“What is it?” 

“It’s like a birthmark. It’s the only one that hasn’t fallen out yet.” I straightened out a few crooked feathers. 

“What happens when it falls out?” She ran her hand over the top of my wing. I closed my eyes. 

“I don’t know.” 

Camille’s huge cell-phone-resembling thing made some noise, and she sighed as she turned over to grab it. “I gotta take this. I’ll be back.” She got up and grabbed her goggles and gloves off her desk before leaving, closing the curtain as quietly as possible. I rolled over and tried to go to sleep. 

I woke up to Camille resting her head on my shoulder and wrapping her arms around one of mine. I flinched. “What’re you doing?” 

“Going to sleep.” She squeezed my arm and closed her eyes. “Goodnight.” 

“Night.” I turned my head away from her and closed my own eyes and tried to ignore my shaking hands at my sides. 

-

I woke up in the middle of the night, and Camille was gone. The space beside me was cold, indicating that she’d been gone for a while. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. The room and everything around it was entirely dark except for glowing numbers beside the bed, which I guessed was the time. Too bad I couldn’t read it. 

I stretched then got out of bed, shaking out my feathers. A few fell out and flew every which way. I sighed and began looking for the fallen feathers. Someone walked by and knocked on the doorframe. “Camille? Are you up yet?” David asked. I froze in place. “Rabbit’s making noises again.” 

I didn’t answer. Maybe if no noise came from this side of the curtain, he would assume no one was in the room. But the curtain opened, and David snorted. “You alright down there?” 

“I lost my feathers,” I said from under the desk. 

“You… lost your feathers?” 

“Yeah, they fell out and they’re everywhere and I can’t find them.” 

He got down on his knees beside the desk. “Need some help?” 

“No, I should be able to get them all.” 

“If it helps at all, she never cleans under her bed, so she won’t notice any feathers down there.” He winked and got up. “How’s your wing, by the way?” 

“It’s a lot better, thank you.” 

“Good. Well, I’ll leave you to it. Do you know where Camille is?” 

“No.” 

“Thought so,” he sighed as he left and closed the curtain. 

-

I didn’t see any of the Walter Workers for most of the day, but I heard bangs and crashes coming from somewhere and steam hissing from another place continuously. I went into the HoW to change clothes, and I saw oil dripping from the wires. When I looked closer, the wires tightened into a small ball. I decided not to bother them or The Spine, who was clearly hiding in the wires and went into the backroom to change. After I finished, I sat on the couch beside The Spine’s body as I was starting to feel dizzy. I leaned against it slightly. It didn’t move, but it felt like it was tilting, but that was probably the rest of the room. I brought my knees to my chest and hoped whatever was happening would pass and soon. 

I snapped back to reality when The Spine’s arm came around me and rested over my shoulders. He detached his head and tilted it in worry as he slithered into his own lap beside me and wrapped his tail around his head. His cheeks were painted with dried oil. “Are you alright, Clarke?” He stared at one of my eyes. “Are your eyes supposed to be entirely black?” 

I blinked a couple times. “I don’t know what they look like.” 

He frowned. “David’s coming.” 

I started to protest then the main door opened, and David came in, covered head-to-toe in metal shards and oil. “Jesus Christ,” he sighed. “Spine, go clean your face. Clarke, what the hell’s going on with your eyes?” 

“Apparently, they’re black.” 

“How’s your vision? Can you see?” He went behind me and shuffled stuff around. 

“I can see fine.” I looked around for him, and he came up in front of me and turned my head back to face forward. He flashed a light in one of my eyes then the other. I jerked my head away, but he grabbed my chin and turned it back. He hummed disappointedly. 

“You’re truly as fascinating specimen,” he sighed. He clicked the light off. I blinked a couple times, trying to clear the spots in my vision. “You feeling okay?” 

I shrugged. “I’m alright. Nothing’s wrong.” 

He frowned. “Have they been black before?” 

“I don’t know. Sorry.” 

“Damn, okay. Spine, can you keep an eye on them, tell me if anything’s off?” The Spine hummed in confirmation ”Thanks.” 

I slumped forward. The Spine’s arm dropped onto my lower back, sure to leave at least a small bruise. “I feel fine.” 

“And that might change with time.” He set his free hand on top of my clasped ones then frowned. “They’re ice cold.” 

“They’re always like that,” I shrugged. He ran the back of his hand over my forehead then to my neck. 

“Interesting,” he whispered. “I gotta get back to work. Spine, Rabbit’s gonna be okay. We’re almost done.” The Spine puffed out steam beside me. “I’d let you stay in there with her, but Clarke’s gotta have someone with them.” He stood. “Zer0’s looking for you, by the way. Clarke, tell Spine if you don’t feel right, okay?” I nodded reluctantly as David left, and soon after, I heard the main door close. 

“I don’t like this.” I crossed my arms and rested my elbows on my knees. “I can take care of myself.” 

The Spine set his tail on my arm. “It won’t last forever, but it’ll be worth it in the long run. For now, David’s just trying his best. Juggling his work on us robots and you hasn’t been a walk in the park for him.” 

“I guess I’m just not used to people caring for me.” 

“Didn’t you say you have a brother?” 

“He was younger than me. I was the one caring for him.” I moved The Spine’s arm from behind me and leaned back. He coiled his tail back around him. “What’s wrong with Rabbit?” 

“She overworked her systems.” 

“Does it happen often?” 

“Yes, but usually, it doesn’t take this long to fix. I’m going back to the wires, excuse me.” He slid off the couch and out of the room. I stretched my legs out across The Spine’s lap and sank into the back of the couch as much as I could, stretching my bandaged wing off the edge. I covered myself with the other one. 

Not long after I fell asleep, someone squealed, making my eyes shoot open. A woman who looked like Rabbit stood in the doorway with her hands over her face. “Screw you, David, I’m totally freaking out. Are those real?” She grinned and stalked closer and stretched her hands out toward my wings. I cringed away, drawing both wings close to me. She stopped. “You’re bleeding.” I scanned myself for any more wounds. Finding none, I looked up at her quizzically. “Your bandage. It’s leaking.” 

I looked at my left wing to see that, yes, I was bleeding. Again. But it wasn’t black this time: it was blue. I sat up and sighed. “Nothing I can’t patch up.” 

The woman knelt beside me. “Let me help you. I have the same training as David.” She reached for the wing. I pulled it away. 

“He doesn’t have any training for maintaining a wing.” 

“How would you know?” 

“He told me. I can handle it, really. Surely you had some other reason to be in here.” 

She frowned. “I’m looking for Spine. He’s in the wires, isn’t he?” 

I nodded. She gave me a brief smile before turning and walking out. I set to work changing the bandage on my wing. Minutes later, The Spine was speed-slithering to his body and trying to climb onto the couch. I picked him up and held him up so he could reattach himself. He took a second to look at my eyes then bolted out of the room and the HoW, followed by the woman protesting. I shook my head and finished up. 

The door opened and closed again then footsteps got louder as they came closer. Soon after, Chelsea was leaning in the doorway. “David’s got something on your blood. You wanna see it?” 

I nodded and got up to follow her. “Is it bad?” 

“He doesn’t know yet. But it’s something.” She went through the curtain to David’s room and turned the Blue Matter door off. I slowly went in, and the door came back on. David was hunched over his desk with tubes of liquid riddling it. Chelsea pressed her lips to David’s head then left. 

“So, Clarke,” he said as he looked up, “while I haven’t made much progress on figuring out why your blood is black, but I have a theory. But it’s almost impossible.” 

“What’s the theory?” 

“I think the Blue Matter affected it somehow, but I don’t think you’ve been around a huge amount of it. We don’t radiate a lot, but it is possible that being around The Spine- even just his chassis- has done a lot to it. I don’t know how much damage it’s done or if it’s doing any actual damage, but so far the reaction is… strange, to say the least.” 

“What do you mean?” 

He sighed. “I’m out of unexposed DNA. I need a feather.” 

“No problem.” I plucked one out and gave it to him. He dropped it into a container and hovered a small rock near it. It turned white almost instantly. My eyes widened. “Weird.” 

“Yeah. I’m gonna look more into it, but at the moment, I don’t know if it’s dangerous for you. Just try not to expose yourself too much. Spine’ll understand.” 

I nodded slowly. “How’s Rabbit?” 

He ran a hand over his face. “We’re almost done; we’re working out a few kinks right now, then she’ll be up and running again. Soon, hopefully. I don’t think any of us can take anymore of getting the oil out of his clothes.” 

Chelsea came back in and flopped onto David’s bed. “She’s online. And pissed.” 

“Please tell me you guys finished.” 

“We did. Michael just turned her on without anyone else around. Bunny’s looking for her.” 

“She disappeared?” 

“She’s looking for The Spine. She’s probably in the HoW.” 

I shook my head. “The Spine left the HoW just before I came here.” 

I held my breath as David turned around and looked at me. “He left?” 

I nodded. “Rather quickly, come to think of it.” 

“Then he must’ve found her,” Chelsea said, muffled by a pillow. “This happens every time we do work on either of them, David, you know this. Just leave them be for a while. We’ll find them when they’re ready to be found.” 

He frowned. “You’re right. Where’s Camille?” 

“Helping Michael clean up.” 

“Alright, I’ll go find Bunny.” David got up and stretched. “Clarke, you can go back to whatever you were doing. Actually, have you met her yet?” 

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.” 

“Then come with me. Chelsea, it could take a while.” 

Chelsea just groaned. I followed David out the door. 

It took forever, but we finally found Bunny, who was the woman that’d chased The Spine out of the HoW. She smiled warmly at me then shot a concerned look at David. “Where’s Rabbit?” 

“She’s with The Spine. They’ll be back later.” 

“I bet they’re at the duck pond.” She crossed her arms. 

David nodded. “Probably, but we’re giving them some time right now. You know how they are. Have you eaten recently?” 

“A few hours ago.” 

David frowned. “C’mon, we were just about to get some food.” 

Bunny nodded and followed us, nearly stepping on my wings until I pulled them close to me and walked a little closer to David. My shoulder bumped against his. I mumbled an apology. 

“So, Clarke,” Bunny started as she walked around David to stand beside me, “what brings you here?” 

“It’s a long story. I’d rather not talk about it, if that’s okay.” 

David flashed me a concerned look, but I brushed it off. We got into the kitchen, and I grabbed an apple from the bowl on the counter. Both David and Bunny got something I couldn’t identify out of the fridge. “What brought you here, Bunny?” 

“The Spine. Speaking of him, David, Rabbit said his eye is sticking again.” 

“I’ll see what I can do,” he sighed as he sat beside me. “So I can’t figure out how Blue Matter affects you, but I have gotten something on why your blood turned black. I think it’s the Blue Matter, but to test that theory, you can’t be exposed to any of it and that’s near impossible here.” 

“What’re you saying?” 

“I don’t know what to do with this. Maybe if I could get another sample, I could conduct an experiment, but only if you’re okay with it.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“It means you wouldn’t be able to be around any of us for a while so what you were exposed to leaves your system.” 

“David, you’re not putting them in the vault,” Bunny said. 

“I wasn’t suggesting the vault. I wouldn’t do that to them. Like I said, I don’t know what to do with this.” He sighed as he turned back to me. “I’m stuck, but I have to figure out if Blue Matter is dangerous to you or not. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but are you human? Or do you know?” 

I shook my head. “I’m not sure.” 

Bunny leaned against the counter. “Do you remember having parents?” 

I shook my head. “I remember white coats, a lot like yours, David. And a metal box. That’s it. Oh, and this.” I moved my ear to expose a series of numbers and letters behind it. David leaned over to look at it and gasped. He and Bunny looked to each other warily, and he mouthed something to her. “Is something wrong?” 

“I’m not sure, but it’s something,” David answered as he took out a pen from his pocket and wrote the sequence on his hand. He put the pen away and glanced at Bunny, who was reading what was on his hand. “Who named you?” 

“My brother.” 

David smiled a little. “He’s clever. It almost spells your name. Does he have a name?” 

“Dean.” 

“Do you remember his serial code?” 

“D134N.” 

Bunny smiled. “Clever.” 

David finished his food and stood. “I gotta go check out Spine’s eye. I’ll see you later, Clarke.” He patted my shoulder as he walked by. 

“What about me?” Bunny pouted. 

“There’s no way Spine’s gonna let me work on his eye without Rabbit. I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He left the room. 

“Why’s The Spine so weird about his eye?” 

Bunny sat down in David’s place. “Spine and Rabbit fought in the Vietnam war a long time ago. They took both of his eyes and one of Rabbit’s. It’s why he has green ones and Rabbit has both blue and green. Neither of them like us working on their eyes and won’t let us without the other.” 

“Why?” 

“They’re like twin siblings. They can’t stand being without the other, which is why The Spine’s been hiding.” 

I nodded slowly, and my eye caught Camille walking by and taking her gloves off with a long sigh. “Please tell me you’re not just eating a carrot, Bunny.” 

“What can I say? I live up to my name.” Bunny grinned as Camille rolled her eyes and sat on my other side. She bumped her shoulder against mine with a smile. I wasn’t sure what to take from the gesture. Bunny watched us, taking another bite out of her food. Camille subtly leaned toward me as she rested her head on the counter. 

“Bunny, how are you doing with Rabbit?” 

“Pretty well. Rabbit’s helping me out with the stuff I can’t figure out. She hasn’t eaten another Moon Pie yet. How’s Zer0?” 

“In perfect condition, actually. I only have to do general maintenance on him.” She yawned. “I think I might go to bed soon. What’s for dinner?” 

“I think it’s taco night.” 

Camille wrinkled her nose. “I guess I’m not eating tonight.” She stood from her seat and ran her hands over my right wing. I froze. “You’re sleeping with me tonight, aren’t you?” she whispered in my ear. Bunny nearly spit out her carrot as Camille walked slowly toward her room. 

“Dude.” Bunny laughed. 

“What?” 

“She likes you.” 

“I sure hope she does.” I took a bite out of my apple. 

Her smile dropped. “You don’t understand the concept of liking someone, do you?” 

“I think I do. I like you… and David… and The Spine… and-” 

“Different ‘like.’ It’s like loving someone.” 

I nodded slowly. “She loves me?” 

“Sorta. She likes you, and I’m not sure how that’s gonna go down in the long run, based on what David’s told me.” 

“What did he tell you?” 

“Way more than I needed to know. Anyway, Camille’s waiting.” She grinned as she stood and left. 

I sighed and finished my apple then threw the core away and made my way to Camille’s room. When I got there, Camille was walking around her room without a shirt on. I closed the curtain as I went in then sat on the desk chair and picked up one of her books and opened it, trying to read the words. She glanced my way and chuckled. “I don’t think you’re quite there yet.” She read over my shoulder. “It’s a good book, though. I’ll totally let you read it when you get better.” 

I looked up at her. “Can you read it to me?” 

She smiled. “I gotta shower, but I will after I’m done.” She squeezed my shoulder then went into the attached bathroom. Someone knocked on the door. I set the book down and went over to answer it. Rabbit saw me and smiled. 

“Clarke! W-what’re you doing-ing in here?” She gasped as she saw my wings. “Ar-re those real?” 

I sighed. “Yes, they’re real.” I tucked them closer to me. 

She grinned. “Can I touch them?” 

I sighed again and held out my right wing. “The other one’s injured.” 

“It wasn’t your shoul-lder?” I shook my head. She frowned. “You li-lied to me-e?” 

“To protect myself, yes. I didn’t know if I was safe here or not.” 

Her frown deepened. “Can I give you a hug?” 

I gave her a confused look. “What’s a ‘hug’?” 

“Can I show you?” 

I hesitantly nodded. She slowly stepped closer and wrapped her arms around me carefully. I tensed up as she pressed her gloved hand against my back. She held me there for a second then pulled away. I stood awkwardly when she stepped back and looked at my face. “A-are you okay, Clarke?” She ran her finger over my cheek. 

I nodded and sniffled. “Yeah, I’m okay.” I crossed my arms over my chest self-consciously. “Did you need something?” 

“I came to get Camille for din-nner.” Her smile returned to her face. “I didn’t expect ya to be h-here, too.” 

“Camille’s taking a shower now, and she said she isn’t gonna eat tonight.” 

“Is she sick?” 

“I don’t think so,” I yawned. 

“I’ll check on-on her later, then. S-s-see ya later, Clarke!” She bounced down the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

Chelsea knocked on David’s doorframe, peeking past the curtain to see him passed out at his desk with a piece of paper in his lifeless hand. She sighed as she snuck in, closing the curtain behind her. The lights faded to a soft pink as she entered. Chelsea gently shook his shoulder, making him draw in a sharp breath as he sat up then scrambled for other papers. “How long have you been going at this?” She took off a sticky note that had stuck to his head and set it on the desk. 

“A few hours? I lost track of time.” He moved his sleeve to check his watch. “Yeah, I gotta get this done. Thanks for waking me up.” He started stacking papers together, creating more empty space on the desk. 

“David, you gotta sleep at some point.” She took his hand. “C’mon, let’s get you in bed.” 

David pulled his hand away. “I gotta finish this. It’s incredibly time-sensitive and could actually mean life or death for Clarke.” 

“How much time do you have?” 

“I don’t know. I’m still not sure what Blue Matter exactly does to them, but from what I’ve seen, it can’t be that great. I have to figure out a way to keep their exposure to a minimum while they’re here to ensure that nothing happens to them.” 

“How do you know it’s not good?” 

“Remember that feather that turned white when it was exposed?” 

Chelsea nodded. 

“It disintegrated. And I don’t know why.” 

“Then come back to it in the morning. The most Clarke’s exposed to right now is Camille, and nothing’s happened yet. They’ll be fine.” 

“I’m not tired. I’ll be fine for another few hours.” 

“David, you’ve been up since last night. You’ve gotta give yourself time to rest. Who knows? Maybe you’ll figure something out after some sleep.” 

“Clarke could die at any given moment, scare the shit out of Camille when she wakes up, crush The Spine, and take away literally all their brother has left. I’ll be fine for another few hours. I just need Clarke to be okay.” 

Chelsea sighed. “You still have to take care of yourself.” 

“It’s okay for right now. If I stop now, I’ll lose track of what I was doing, and I can’t put Clarke in that kind of danger. I’ll figure out a way to fix it now, then I’ll rest. I just don’t have time to right now.” 

Chelsea crossed her arms. 

David sighed. “Fine.” He spun his chair so it was facing out and slowly stood, wobbling slightly. “Is there any food left from dinner?” 

Chelsea shook her head. “Breakfast is in a few hours, though.” She took his hands and led him to his bed. When he sat down on the edge, Chelsea took his medication and his water bottle off the nightstand and gave them to him. He grumbled as he took them and drank some more water. 

“Can we not do the injection tonight?” He looked pleadingly up at Chelsea. 

“I’m afraid not. If you didn’t overwork yourself all the time, you wouldn’t have to do it at all.” She looked at his expression. “I can wait until you’re asleep, if you’d like.” 

David shook his head. “Just get it over with.” 

Chelsea went over to the desk and took out a small bottle, a couple cotton balls, and a syringe from a drawer then went back to David. He tilted his head to the side and grabbed onto her skirt as she wiped a patch of skin off with one of the cotton balls. He tensed up. “I need you to relax,” she said softly. 

“’M trying.” David pulled Chelsea closer and pressed his head against her torso. “Sorry.” 

Someone knocked on the door, and both Chelsea and David looked at it. Peter VI’s keyhole mask peeked around the corner. “Everything alright in here? No funny business?” 

“She’s just helping me with my injection, sir,” David said. Chelsea nodded in agreement. “No funny business.” 

“Alright. Get some sleep, you two.” 

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison. 

“That curtain was clever, David. Annoying, but clever.” 

“Thanks.” 

Peter left and closed the curtain. David sighed, and Chelsea took the opportunity to stick his neck with the needle and pushed the medication into his blood stream before he could swat it away. Then he relaxed against Chelsea. She held the other cotton ball to the injection site as he closed his eyes. “Okay, now I’m tired.” 

Chelsea chuckled. “You can’t fall asleep on me.” 

“I’ve done it countless times before. What’s the problem now?” he mumbled, wrapping his arms lazily around her. 

She pushed his arms away, and they fell at his sides. “I gotta go back to my room. Just in case.” 

David sighed. “I don’t like hiding this.” 

“I know.” She pushed him back so his head fell onto his pillow and swung his legs onto the bed. She covered him with his blanket then knelt down and kissed his head. “I love you.” He smiled sleepily and mumbled incoherently. Chelsea smiled and whispered “goodnight” before turning to leave. 

On her way out, Chelsea collided with The Spine, who was already whispering an apology. “Hey, Spine.” She smiled at him. 

“Hello, Miss Chelsea. Is David awake?” 

“He just went to sleep, but I think I can help you, if there’s an issue.” 

“Thank you, but I’ll talk to David when he wakes up.” 

“It might be a while, Spine. Are you sure I can’t help you?” 

“Yes, I’m sure. Goodnight, Miss Chelsea.” He smiled then turned and went back to the HoW. 

-

I woke up to Camille checking the bandage on my wing. I closed my eyes and let her run her fingers over some of the feathers. She giggled softly as I sighed happily. “I didn’t think you were awake,” she whispered. 

“Just woke up.” I opened one eye. “Do I need to change them again?” 

She nodded. “I have bandages in here.” She drew her hands away and leaned over the edge of the bed, returning shortly after with a box of bandages and other stuff I didn’t recognize. “I’m legally obligated to tell you I have no medical training, especially for someone like you, no offense, but I am willing to help, if you want it.” 

“Please?” 

She smiled and opened the box. “Lift up your wing for me?” I did, and feathers fell out of it and drifted down, scattering around the bed. I tried not to laugh at Camille’s expression. “Is that supposed to happen?” I nodded. She carefully took the bandage off my wing and tossed it into a trash can. “It looks a lot better than it did before.” 

“Is the blood still black?” 

“It has more of a blue tint to it. Is that normal?” 

“No.” 

She frowned. “Has David told you anything about it yet?” 

“Something about Blue Matter exposure. He hasn’t come up with much yet.” I winced as she touched the wound. 

“How bad was that?” 

“Not terrible, but not great.” 

She held out her arm. “Show me.” I hesitantly looked from her arm to her face. “C’mon, you do it do David.” I hesitantly dragged my fingers down her arm. She flinched. “That’s pretty terrible, actually.” Camille carefully wrapped my wing up. “The feathers around the wound itself already fell out, and it’s healing weirdly fast.” She ran her hand over the feathers on the back of my wing. I fanned them out away from each other. She gasped. “Incredible,” she whispered. I closed my eyes as she tangled her fingers in them. “Where’d that white one go?” My eyes shot open, and I scrambled to find it. 

It was on the other wing. I sighed. “You scared me.” 

“Sorry.” She smoothed her hand over the top layer of feathers. “Are you the reason I keep finding feathers around the room?” 

“… Yeah.” 

She dug her hands into the feathers. “You’re getting some more white feathers.” 

“What?” 

“Some of them are turning white. Are they supposed to do that?” 

“I don’t think so. I’ve only had the one.” I closed my eyes again. Camille’s hands went away. I felt around for her, and she grabbed my hand. 

“I’m not leaving, don’t worry. Can you hand me my book?” I opened my eyes and grabbed her book off the table by her bed. 

“What’s this table called?” I gave her the book. 

“A nightstand.” She leaned it against my ribs and opened it. “Want me to read out loud?” I shook my head and watched her read out of the corner of my eye. 

Someone knocked on the doorframe. Camille looked up from her book. “Come in.” David opened the curtain with his goggles dangling off his finger and stepped in. “What do you need?” 

He tossed his goggles to her. She panicked and blocked her face. The goggles hit her arms and fell into her lap. “Do you see anything weird through those?” 

Camille gave David a weird look as she looked through them. “No. Should I?” 

David didn’t answer but sighed. “Can I see yours?” Camille hesitantly took her goggles off her head and tossed them to David he looked through them and frowned. “That’s weird,” he mumbled. 

“What’s weird?” 

“I don’t know, exactly. I gotta look into it. Thanks.” David tossed Camille’s goggles onto her bed. “Clarke, I need you to come to my room sometime today. ” He gave me a guilty look then quietly thanked Camille as he left. 

Camille looked at me. “What was that about?” 

“I don’t know. You think I should go to his room and find out?” 

She shook her head. “Give it a couple hours,” she said before she went back to reading. 

A couple hours passed, and I went to David’s room and knocked on the doorframe. “David?” 

“Clarke? Come in.” was the response I got. I opened the curtain and tucked my wings in as much as I could so they didn’t get burned as I slowly entered. “I turned it off, don’t worry.” He smiled comfortingly at me. I relaxed and closed the curtain behind me. 

“So, what’s up? What did you need?” 

“Right! So,” he started as he rolled his chair toward the desk, “I used all the loose feathers I could find in the HoW, and I tested their reaction to Blue Matter, and…” He sighed. 

“And…?” 

“They all disintegrated. Turned to dust.” 

“What does that mean?” 

“That could either mean the feather died as soon as it was detached and was doomed to die, or Blue Matter is slowly killing either your wings or you.” 

I gasped. “What?” 

David looked guilty. “I knew you wouldn’t like it.” 

“So I can’t stay here?” I began pacing the floor. “Where would I go? Am I just gonna be homeless again?” 

David stopped me by grabbing my wrists. “Hey, I’m working something out, but I need permission from you first.” 

“What is it?” 

“If it’s just killing your wings, we can remove them so it isn’t a threat. It’s entirely up to you, and I won’t bug you anymore if you say ‘no.’ You don’t have to answer right now, either.” 

“Are you kidding? Please, I want them gone. You can do that?” 

“… I don’t know yet, but I’ll try to figure that out.” 

I smiled wide then frowned. “Will it hurt?” 

He shook his head. “We’d have to put you under. It’s basically making you sleep for a long time.” 

I smiled again and hugged him. He leaned down and touched my lips with his. I pulled away and gave him a confused look as I heard a gasp. David ran out the door, calling for Chelsea. 

-

“Chelsea, wait!” David almost yelled as she ran into the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and took out a glass bottle he recognized as the nearly-empty vodka. She took the cap off and thrust the bottle at David. The burning smell of alcohol filled his nose, and he backed away with his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry, Chelsea, but please- please- put the bottle down.” His eyes began to water. Chelsea’s eyes narrowed as she slowly stepped closer to him. He backed away until his back hit the wall. “Please,” he whimpered, “Chelsea, don’t.” 

Chelsea raised the bottle, and David bolted out of the kitchen and down the hall to the HoW. “Spine?” he called frantically. “Spine!” 

The Spine emerged from the wires. “What do you need?” 

“Could you get the wires to hide me? Please?” 

The Spine sighed as wires came down and scooped David up. He grabbed onto one of them for dear life and watched The Spine slowly disappear into another part of the wires. “Why are you hiding, David?” he asked softly. 

“Chelsea’s mad at me, and she has alcohol.” 

“Is she drunk?” 

David shook his head then realized Spine couldn’t see him and said “no.” 

“What did you do to upset her?” 

Just as he asked, the door opened. David carefully moved some of the wires to look at who it was to see Chelsea still wielding the bottle and looking around the room. “Hey, Spine?” she called through the room. 

“Yes, Miss Chelsea?” 

“Have you seen David? I’ve been looking for him.” 

Please don’t say yes. Please. 

“I haven’t seen him. Maybe he’s with Bunny or Camille.” David quietly sighed from relief. The wires shifted, and The Spine slithered across his lap and cascaded down the wires. “May I ask why you’re so angry with him?” 

“How do you know I’m mad at him?” 

“Your tone, and your ears are blue.” 

“Oh. He kissed Clarke.” 

The wires let go of David, and he fell to the ground. Chelsea gasped then tightened her hold on her bottle. David got up and started running again, ignoring the pain shooting through his entire body. Chelsea was close behind him and quickly catching up. He was quickly running out of breath and knew he needed to stop soon. Or at least slow down. 

Chelsea latched onto his back, forcing him to the ground in the middle of the hall. She rolled him onto his back and sat on top of his ribs, holding the bottle threateningly. David nervously darted his eyes from her face to the bottle. He glanced at the curtain covering the nearest doorway. “Bunny?” Chelsea covered his mouth and raised the bottle. His eyes widened, and he nearly screamed for Bunny to please help. 

“What the hell were you thinking?” Chelsea demanded through gritted teeth. 

As soon as she uncovered his mouth, David rapidly spoke: “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please put the bottle down. You know I can’t be arou-” David was cut off by Chelsea spitting vodka onto his face. 

“Take your meds,” she said as she got up and walked away. David rushed to go into Bunny’s small bathroom and scrubbed at his face and neck. 

“David?” Bunny’s hand on his side made him jump. “What’re you doing in here?” He slowly turned his head to look at her, and the look on her face nearly made his heart break. “What’s the matter?” 

“She spat vodka on me.” 

Bunny gasped. “Chelsea did?” 

David nodded, and Bunny’s face hardened. “I’m going to kill her.” 

“No, I sorta deserved it,” he said as he dried his face with the hand towel hanging by the sink. 

She stopped. “What did you do?” 

“I kissed Clarke.” 

Bunny shook her head. “You didn’t deserve that. I mean, that’s terrible and you shouldn’t do it again, but that doesn’t warrant vodka to the face, especially not for you.” She grabbed his arm and gently pulled him toward her bed. He sat down and wrapped his arms around himself. “You wanna stay in here tonight?” 

“No, I have to take my meds then I won’t be able to keep a clear enough head to walk.” 

“You’ve seriously got to fix the prescription on those.” She set a hand on his back. 

“I know. Isn’t it almost dinner time?” 

“Yeah, just about. Do you wanna stay in here, and I’ll bring you some food?” 

David shook his head. “I’ll be okay. She’ll probably avoid me, anyway.” 

“Alright.” She coaxed him into her arms and held him tight. “You gonna be okay?”

“I’m gonna have to be.” He tightened his arms around himself. “Peter can’t know.” 

“Have you tried apologizing to her?” 

David nodded. “A few minutes ago.” 

“Where is she now?” 

“I don’t know. She walked away, and I came in here.” 

“C’mon, let’s go get some food. You look pale.” 

“I’m literally white, Bunny.” He cracked a small smile. “But I am hungry.” He got up and stretched. “You’re looking a little pale, as well.” 

“Yeah, Rabbit feels pretty bad about it, but I’m finally like you people. Almost.” 

He chuckled. “You’re getting there. C’mon, food is in there. I think it’s our turn to cook, too.” 

“Right. I remembered that.” She got up and followed him to the kitchen. “How’s Clarke’s project going?” 

“I’m pretty sure Blue Matter is killing them very slowly. Or at least their wings.” 

“You say that like it’s a good thing.” 

“I’m looking more into it, but if it’s just the wings, that’s kinda easily fixable. I already have Clarke’s consent.” 

“Surgery?” 

“Yep. What’re we making?” 

“I don’t know. Nothing really sounds good.” 

“So we’re making pasta. Get the noodles, please. Anyway, I’ll have to wait for any other reaction than the feathers turning white before I make any huge decisions.” 

“And Clarke’s okay with it?” 

“Yeah, they’re actually really excited.” 

“You might wanna make sure it’s okay with them if you do have to do surgery.” 

“I will.” 

“Good.” 

Camille came in and took a glass out of the cabinet, ignoring both the twins and the uncomfortable elephant in the room. She filled it with water from the sink and left the room. Clarke came in soon after and sat down at the counter. “Hey, guys.” 

“Hey, Clarke.” Bunny smiled sweetly at them. 

“Hey.” David didn’t look up from what he was doing. Bunny nudged his shoulder. 

“David, your hand…” Clarke stared at David’s left hand. He looked down at it to see that he’d cut it multiple times while cutting the tomatoes. Bunny gasped. David shrugged and continued. 

Bunny took the knife from him. “Stop it, David. Go clean that up. You’re not cooking tonight.” She turned to Clarke. “Can you go with him and make sure he actually takes care of it?” 

They nodded and gently led him down the hall toward the HoW.


	5. Chapter 5

David stared at the floor the whole way down the hall to the HoW. His hand was dripping blue blood, and he didn’t seem to care as he caught most of it in his hand. He smelled like alcohol. I opened the door for him and winced as it loudly closed, and The Spine looked up from his book at the desk by the wall. “Hello, David. And Clarke.” 

“Hey,” David mumbled. I brightly greeted him then went over to David, who was digging through bandages. I offered to help him, but David refused though his hand was dripping all over the bandages, ruining them. 

“David, what on Earth are you doing?” The Spine asked as he went over and took a somehow clean bandage from the box and set it on the table. He took a bottle off the table and held out open palm out as he took the cap off the bottle with his fingers. He set the bottle down and picked up a couple fluffy balls out of a container. 

“Getting bandages. Cut myself cooking.” 

“You’re bleeding everywhere. David, what’s gotten into you?” He took David’s injured hand and soaked one of the fluffy balls in whatever was in the bottle and carefully took the blood off David’s hand with it. 

“I can take care of myself,” he grumbled as he tried to free his hand from The Spine’s grip. 

“Clearly not. Hold still, please. Clarke?” 

“Yes?” 

“Can you throw those other bandages away, please? Just the bloody ones.” 

“Okay.” 

“Thank you.” 

I began working on that while David continued to mumble to himself as The Spine put a bandage on his hand, chastising him for being careless and fussing over him. I wondered how long it took them to get so close. It wasn’t common to see The Spine acting like a mother hen, but it was nice. 

“Spine, you’re doing it again,” David said softly. 

“I apologize, David, but you really should be more careful.” 

“I know,” David sighed. “I messed up. Bad.” 

“Knowing’s half the battle.” 

“Please don’t do this now.” 

“I-” 

“-Apologize. I know.” He patted The Spine’s shoulder a couple times. “You’re a good dude. Definitely not a Nazi.” 

The Spine chuckled. “Thanks.” 

“Hey, David?” I spoke up. 

“Yeah?” 

“What’s a Nazi?” 

“Clarke, while I would love to sit down and explain that entire 50-year fiasco, there’s food in the kitchen, and I’m tired. Nazis are bad.” 

“Alright then.” I finished separating the bloody bandages from the clean ones and put the clean ones back in the box. “Where’s Rabbit?” I threw away the ruined bandages. 

“With Zer0,” The Spine said. “He’s another robot. I think you’ll like him when you meet.” 

“I like all of you, so far.” 

“We all like you, too. So far.” David smiled a little. The Spine made a face at him. I smiled. “Spine, have you heard from Chelsea?” 

“She’s still very angry, but that’s all I know.” The Spine looked up as the door opened. “Speak of the devil.” I looked at the door and saw Chelsea’s worried face. 

“We weren’t talking about the devi-” I started. 

“It’s a figure of speech, Clarke.” 

“Oh.” 

“David?” Chelsea spoke. “Are you hurt? I saw blood in the hall leading here.” She carefully turned David around and took his hand. “What happened?” 

“Cut my hand,” he mumbled. 

“On purpose?” 

David shook his head. The Spine took my arm carefully and led me toward the door, keeping his head ducked low. I brought my wings close to me as we left the HoW. He puffed out steam, muttering under his breath. “Would you like to go read before dinner? We have some time.” 

I shook my head. “I might fall asleep if I read anymore today.” 

He offered me a smile as we went into the kitchen. Bunny and GG were arguing over something regarding robots eating food and GG having teeth. Camille was sitting between two men I hadn’t met before looking annoyed. Her face didn’t change when she saw me coming in. Bunny smiled at The Spine then looked at me. “Hey, Clarke. How’s David?” 

“Bandaged.” 

“Who’s this?” the man with a cloth tied to his head asked her. 

“Right, you haven’t met them yet. That’s Clarke. They’re here now,” Bunny told him. 

The other man flashed me a bright smile. “I’m Michael, that’s Steve. It’s nice to meet you, Clarke.” 

I was vaguely aware of The Spine leaving the room. Michael moved away from Camille and invited me to sit in his place. I did and folded my hands in my lap. Camille nudged my shoulder with hers. “Is David okay?” she whispered to me. 

“He’s talking to Chelsea right now.” 

The Spine came back with a startled look in his eyes. “I think they made up.” 

Michael and Steve laughed. Camille sighed. “In the wires?” 

“Everywhere.” He thanked Rabbit for the glass of water she gave him and sat in his seat beside Camille. 

Camille sighed again. “At least we just stocked up on rubber gloves.” 

The Spine shuddered. Camille did the same. I gave them both confused looks. “What does that mean?” 

“That’s something we’re not discussing at the dinner table,” The Spine said firmly before anyone else could speak. 

“Oh, c’mon, The Spine,” Rabbit teased, knocking The Spine’s hat nearly off his head. “C-can’t let ‘em be protec-tected forever.” 

The Spine glared at her as she happily sat down beside him and drank some of his water while he was pinching the bridge of his nose. Rabbit giggled. The Spine sighed and took his hat off, setting it my head. Rabbit ran out of the room, The Spine following right behind her. 

-

Chelsea sat David down on the table and looked around for her stickers. David smiled a little to himself. He liked stickers. When she came back, he was hit with a wave of dizziness. He started to fall off the table, and Chelsea stabilized him. “Those wires dropped you pretty hard, huh?” She took his hand again and let him pick a sticker. “You smell like vodka,” she said as she put it on the bandage. 

“I wonder why,” he grumbled. 

Chelsea frowned. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I deserved it.” 

She shook her head as she checked the dilation of his eyes. “No, you didn’t.” She kissed him, cradling his face. “Do you seriously believe that?” David nodded. Chelsea kissed him again. “You would never deserve that, honey.” She kissed his cheek then wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair. David hesitantly reached for Chelsea. She saw his hands and moved closer to him. He threw his arms around her and started to cry. 

“I’m so sorry,” he said into the fabric of Chelsea’s dress. “I love you so much. I’m an idiot. I’m sorry.” He bunched up her skirt in his hands. 

“David, you gotta get your shirt off. There’s vodka on it,” she said as she pulled away from him and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He took her hand and kissed her fingertips. She drew her hand away and unbuttoned his shirt. He let her push it off his shoulders then freed his arms from the sleeves. David stood and kissed her, reaching for the zipper on the back of her dress. The door creaked at it opened, and Chelsea grabbed David’s wrist and ran with him behind the wires, both of the them giggling. 

-

“David cheated?” Michael exclaimed. 

“Mr. Reed, please keep your voice down,” The Spine scolded him. “Yes, he did, but they’ve already made up, judging from what I saw. We won’t know for sure until they come back.” 

“Are we talking about David and Chelsea?” a man with a wooden mask with what looked like a keyhole in the middle of it asked as he came up behind Camille. “I saw what happened in here… and in the hall. They’re a mess, honestly.” He laughed. 

“You knew?” almost everyone nearly shouted. They gave him dumbfounded looks. 

“I’ve known for years. There’s not much in this manor you can hide from me. Anyway, they both did some terrible things to each other. I think they’re even, but they have to settle that for themselves.” 

“What did Chelsea do?” Camille asked him. 

“Chased him around the manor with a bottle of vodka then spat it in his face,” Bunny said from her place at the stove. 

I leaned closer to Camille and asked “what’s ‘vodka?’” 

“It’s a drink. It messes with your head and stuff. It scares David, so Chelsea spitting it in his face was really bad.” 

“Why was what David did bad? What’s ‘cheating?’ Who’s the guy in the mask?” 

“I’ll explain later. That’s Peter. He’s our boss.” She touched her lips to my cheek then went back to the group’s conversation. 

“I can’t believe you knew the whole time and haven’t said anything to them yet,” Steve said. 

“I thought it was funny to interrupt them and watch them scramble away from each other. Never got old.” He went around to the other side of the table to help Bunny then turned to me. “I’m Peter.” He held out his hand. 

“I’m Clarke.” I leaned toward Camille again. “What’s he doing with his hand?” 

“You have to shake it.” She took my hand and shook it up and down. “Like that. It’s how people greet each other.” 

“Okay.” I hesitantly shook Peter’s hand then folded both of mine in my lap. 

“Where’s Rabbit?” The Spine asked. 

“She and Zer0 are at the duck pond.” 

I started to lean toward Camille again, and she answered my question before I asked it. “A duck is a bird. It’s an animal with wings a lot like yours. A pond is like a really big puddle of water. Rabbit goes there sometimes to be alone. I don’t know why Zer0’s there.” She looped her arm through mine. Bunny glanced back at us and smiled, saying something to Peter. Michael and Steve glanced at us. The Spine cleared his throat as Chelsea came in and sat beside him. 

“You didn’t kill him, did you?” Steve asked, and Michael hit his stomach with the back of his hand. 

“He went to bed. He’s still dizzy because someone dropped him out of the wires.” She glared at The Spine. 

“I didn’t drop him. It was the wires. They’re sentient, too.” He shrugged. Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Did he take his meds?” Chelsea nodded. 

“How many meds is this dude on now?” Steve asked. Michael hit him again, this time with a glare. 

“That’s none of your business,” Bunny said very pointedly. 

“It was just a question, Bunny.” 

“Okay.” She turned around and leaned against the counter, crossing her arms. “Why don’t we all go around and say how many meds we’re all on. How does that sound?” 

“Fine. You start.” 

“Two.” 

“I’m not a part of this,” Peter said. 

Chelsea said “one.” 

The Spine was skipped. 

Camille said “none.” 

I said “None, unless painkillers count.” 

Michael said “none.” 

Steve stared down at his lap as he mumbled “five.” He looked up. “So how many is David on?” 

Chelsea said three. The Spine said two. Bunny said two. They all looked between each other. 

“He’s supposed to be on four,” Peter said. 

Chelsea mumbled “I’ll be back” as she grabbed an apple then left. 

-

David’s light was turned on, and he opened his eyes. “What?” 

“You’re hiding meds,” Chelsea said. “Peter said you’re supposed to be on four.” 

He tightened up. “I can’t move when I’m on them.” 

“Are you supposed to take them at night?” He nodded. “Then that shouldn’t be a problem. Where are they?” 

“I flushed them.” 

“Dammit, David. What were they for?” 

“Tremors. Supposed to replace the injection.” 

She sighed and knelt beside him. “You need to talk to Peter about that.” She kissed the tip of his nose. “I love you, and I brought you an apple.” She set it in his hand. 

He smiled and mumbled “I love you.” 

Chelsea stood and turned the light off and left the room. She leaned through the doorway and whispered “goodnight.” He mumbled back. GG tapped her leg with her snout. “Is it okay if GG comes in here?” 

“That’s fine.” 

GG smiled and trotted into the room and jumped onto the bed. She curled up beside David, setting her head on his arm. He sleepily patted her back. Chelsea smiled and closed the curtain. 

-

Chelsea whispered something to Peter as she came back into the room. Even through the mask, his disappointment was visible. The Spine helped Bunny put food on plates and brought them to the humans. They each thanked him and Bunny when they got their food, and Michael stood to get something from a box he pulled out of the side of the counter. He pulled out a bunch of silver sticks with pointy things at the end of each. He gave everyone one. When I got mine, I just looked at it. Camille noticed and held up hers. “This is called a fork. You use it to eat. You hold it like this.” She showed me how then helped me when I couldn’t quite get it. Michael and Steve watched. Steve choked out a laugh when the fork fell out of my hand. Camille glared at him. 

When I finally got it and started to eat, Camille touched my cheek with her lips. Steve laughed again. “Hey, Camille, can I get a kiss if I hold my fork right?” 

Peter looked like he was about to say something, then Bunny went around the table to stand beside him and yanked his head back by his hair, harshly whispering something to her. “Yes, Bunny. You got it. Please let go.” Bunny let go of him and went sit between Chelsea and The Spine, slapping Camille’s hand on the way to her seat. “Sorry, Clarke.” 

I leaned toward Camille and asked “what’s a kiss?” 

She did the thing on my cheek with her lips again. “That.” 

I smiled. “I like kisses.” Camille smiled. Peter seemed to smile at us from behind the mask. 

“Your food won’t be as good cold.” She continued eating hers. 

Michael finished his food before anyone and went around to the other side of the table, tripping over my injured wing. I gasped and bit my finger before I screamed. Michael rushed to apologize, Camille offered her arm, and Steve stuttered, trying to get my attention. He tapped on Camille’s shoulder and pointed at my wing. She gasped. Peter went around to see what was going on. “I’ll get the bandages.” I felt tears gather in my eyes. Camille tugged my finger out of my mouth and wiped the falling tears from my eyes, gasping again when she looked down at her hand. I glanced at it to see black on her white skin. 

Peter came back with bandages and went behind me. “Clarke, I’m gonna touch your wing, okay?” I nodded, and he carefully lifted it. Bunny cleared the room then took the plates off the table as he took the old bandage off. “Clarke, I understand that this is no walk in the park for you, but I need you to relax.” He carefully put something on my wound then put the bandage on over it. “Alright, you’re all set.” He patted my back a couple times as he stood. “Did they say something about a movie in the living room?” 

“I think so,” Camille answered. “Clarke, you wanna go watch a movie?” 

“What’s a movie?” I sat up from the comfort of her shoulder. 

“It’s a story, but you watch it.” 

I nodded stiffly. “Okay.” 

Camille led me into a big room where everyone had gathered and were watching pictures move on a big screen. The Spine glanced back and smiled at me, offering us the space beside him. We sat, and Camille set my wing in her lap and her head on my shoulder. She kissed my cheek and smiled when I did. 

I recognized the movie they were watching and smiled wider. “I remember this. They showed it on a big sheet when it first came out. This is a movie?” 

Everyone turned their heads. “Clarke,” Michael said, “this movie is over a hundred years old.” 

“I know.” 

“How old are you, Clarke?” Steve asked. 

“One hundred eighty six.” 

Their eyes widened. The Spine blew steam from his mouth. “Clarke, you’re older than me.” 

“How old are you?” I asked him. 

“One hundred nineteen. You lived through the Civil War. America didn’t even have all fifty states when you were born.” He grinned. Everyone sighed and apologized to me. Michael stopped the movie. “What was it like? You were a part of it? How did you live? Did you ever meet Abraham Lincoln.” 

My face lit up at that name. “We were friends when I was a kid.” 

The Spine’s eyes filled with black liquid. “That’s amazing! What was he like?” 

“He was funny. Liked to tell jokes. Really tall. He tried to teach me how to read. He was really happy until the war.” 

“What was the war like?” 

Everyone had gathered around us to listen. I wrapped my wings around myself and Camille and fidgeted with the feathers. “It was scary. And loud. I could hear a lot better before it. People were always afraid of something or running from something else. It was chaos. My brother and I nearly died. I ran away from it with a man named Henry. My brother eventually found us.” 

“Henry Brown?” 

I nodded. “He liked boxes.” 

The Spine whispered “wow.” Rabbit and another robot came in. “What’s going-ing on, Th’ Spine?” 

“Clarke was in the Civil War. They knew Lincoln.” 

She smiled and joined the group. The other robot looked confused as he sat beside Chelsea and gently hugged her. “Who’s Clarke?” 

I waved. “Is that Zer0?” 

The Spine nodded, and I smiled. “You can meet him later. What else?” 

“When I went back to find Ham- Abraham- someone told me he died. He was shot at a theatre by a man named John. I don’t remember his last name.” 

“John Wilkes Booth,” The Spine offered. I nodded. 

“How do you know so much about the war?” I asked him. 

“He reads a lot,” Rabbit said. “My turn! Was he really left handed? Abraham Lincoln?” 

“What does that mean?” 

Camille lifted my left hand. “Did he write with this hand?” 

“I don’t know, but he threw sticks with that one. And kicked rocks with his right foot.” 

Rabbit smiled wider. “Was his hat better than mine is?” 

“His didn’t have cool goggles.” I smiled. “But it made him look really tall. Taller than he was. He was a little taller than David is.” 

“Do you remember when he was president?” 

I shook my head. “He was president?” 

The Spine nodded. “One of the most famous. Do you remember Andrew Jackson?” 

“Yes. He was a terrible person. I don’t know why he was so mean to those people. He once beat someone with his cane. Granted, he was trying to kill him, but he deserved to die.” 

The group looked shocked. Camille squeezed my hand. Zer0 spoke: “No one deserves to die, Clarke.” 

“He was a bad man. He kicked thousands of people out of their homes for selfish reasons. So many people died because of him.” 

Everyone stared at me then slowly nodded. As one person. One collective person. Except Camille. She was nearly asleep. 

“Where’s David?” I asked as I looked around. 

“He went to bed,” Chelsea told me. “Spine dropped him on his head.” 

“For the last time, Miss Chelsea, I didn’t drop him.” He rolled his eyes. Chelsea got up and mumbled something about going to bed. Steve leaned forward and raised his eyebrows at The Spine. The Spine let out steam. “Are we gonna watch this movie or what?” he grumbled, tipping his hat over his eyes. 

I offered my shoulder to him, and he looked at my questioningly. I moved my wing as an invitation, and he took his hat off and carefully lay down so his head was resting on my leg. I draped my wing over him. Camille patted his head a couple times then wrapped my arm around her and set her head on my chest. I didn’t know why, but it made me happy. She hooked her hand under my shoulder to meet the other on my other shoulder. 

I watched the same two-second scene repeat on the screen until Steve turned it off and glanced back at me. “Wow,” he chuckled softly. “Need some help getting them off you?” 

“I don’t know how to wake The Spine up. I can get Camille.” 

He smiled. “So are you two, like, a thing now?” 

“I don’t know what that means.” 

He sat down in front of me and looked warily at The Spine. He poked his face a couple times, and when he didn’t move, he looked back at me. “It’s like having a best friend, in a way. Like David and Chelsea. They’re together or a ‘thing.’ Get it?” 

I nodded hesitantly. “I think so. Like loving someone, right?” 

“Kinda.” He smiled. He got on his feet then grabbed The Spine’s arm and pulled on it until he was sitting up. His arm fell to the ground with a loud clunk, and Steve hissed, looking around the room. He sat on The Spine’s legs and shook his shoulders until his eyes flew open, and he shoved Steve onto the floor. Steve raised his hands cautiously in front of him and slowly brought them down as The Spine’s expression softened. “Are you okay, Spine?” 

He hesitated then nodded slowly. “… Yes, I am. You just scared me.” 

“Sorry, buddy. I shouldn’t have done that.” Steve grabbed The Spine’s hat then set it on his head. 

“Are your shoulders okay?” 

“They’re okay. C’mon, I’ll take you to the HoW.” He offered his hand to The Spine, and he took it as he stood. “Clarke, are you gonna be okay with Camille?” I nodded. The Spine muttered something about David as they walked away. 

I picked Camille up carefully and struggled to my feet then adjusted my hold on her and made my way to her room. I moved the blanket on her bed as much as I could without letting go of her and set her down. I took her goggles off her head and her gloves off her hands but left everything else on before I closed the curtain and got in bed, pulling the blanket over us both. I lifted her enough to get my wing under her then set her back down and draped my other wing over her. I wrapped my arm around her and closed my eyes. 

-

The Spine quietly knocked on the frame of David’s door. He was supposed to be awake by now. He frowned when he didn’t get a response. He peeked past the curtain to see a lump in the covers. “David?” he gently touched his shoulder, and nothing happened. He shook him a little. Again, nothing. It wasn’t like him to sleep for this long. “David?” His worry grew the more he tried to wake him up. He shouldn’t still be unconscious. He checked his pulse. 

It should’ve been the first thing he did because The Spine detected fifteen beats per minute. He notified Peter and checked the hallway before carrying David to the HoW. He tried to ignore how heavy he felt in his arms compared to the times he’d had to carry David in the past. He opened the door and set David on the infirmary table. He hoped Peter would show up soon. David’s skin was covered in sweat, but he was cold to the touch. 

Peter burst through the door. “I came as soon as I got your message. What’s happening?” 

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t wake up, and his heart rate’s way too low.” 

“Did you see anything in his room that could’ve caused this?” he asked as he looked David over. 

“I’ll go look.” He went back into David’s room to see Chelsea digging through drawers. “Miss Chelsea?” 

“He took an entire week of shots,” was all she said. “Dammit, David,” she mumbled. She looked up at The Spine. “Where is he?” 

“With Peter, in the HoW.” 

“Is he okay?” 

“We don’t know for sure yet. I just brought him in there.” 

She smiled sadly. “At least you’re honest. Is it okay if I go in there?” 

The Spine shook his head. “Probably not for a while. I’ll keep you posted, though.” He offered her a kind smile. She turned and hugged him. The Spine carefully wrapped his arms around her and released a cloud of steam. “I have to go report this to Peter. Stay safe, okay?” 

“I will.” She let go then straightened his tie. He gave her another smile then left. 

Peter was hooking David up to a machine as The Spine came in. He glanced up at him. “Did you get anything?” 

“He took seven doses of his injection.” 

Peter sighed as he turned David’s head to look at his neck. “There’s no new sites,” he muttered. “Did he eat anything last night?” 

“An apple.” 

He sighed again. “Spine, I need you to take him up to the attic, okay? I can help him there. Just trust me.” 

The Spine was hesitant, but he picked David picked up again and waited for Peter to open the door before taking the most isolated route to the attic. He didn’t think he could focus on the task at hand with everyone worrying about why David was unconscious or why he was being taken to the attic. The Spine was already being bombarded with messages from Chelsea and Camille. 

The Spine set David down on a pile of old blankets then covered him with a stray blanket in hopes it would raise his temperature. He knelt beside David, oil trickling down his cheek. “Why, David?” He set his hand on his forehead. He carefully tucked the blanket around him then left, keeping the door cracked in case he miraculously woke up while he was alone. He wiped the oil from his cheek and went down the stairs. 

Chelsea was sitting on David’s bed painting her nails when The Spine passed his room. She looked up at him hopefully. He entered the room and closed the curtain. He made sure the extra barrier was on before he spoke: “Peter’s helping him. It’ll be a while. That’s all I know.” 

She sniffled. “He looked pretty bad when you took him to the attic.” 

“I have no clue what’s actually happening to him. We’re just gonna have to trust Peter on this one.” He sat beside Chelsea and watched her paint her nails. “What’s the point of painting your nails with clear polish?” 

“It tastes bad and keeps me from biting my nails. David made it.” She smiled a little as she turned the bottle, revealing a sticker much like the ones in the HoW. She sighed. “Bunny’s gonna kill me.” 

“Why would she do that?” 

“I was with him last night.” 

The Spine set his hand delicately on her back. “You know Miss Bunny wouldn’t blame you or anyone else for this. If we’re lucky, she won’t even know this happened.” 

“He’s gonna tell her sooner or later. If he makes it.” 

“He’s gonna be okay, Miss Chelsea. I promise.”


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up curled up in a ball with my wings wrapped around me. I snapped my head around, and Camille laughed softly from the corner of the room. “You’re like a bird.” 

I smiled. “I like birds.” 

“Me too.” She sat beside me and straightened out the feathers on the backs of my wings. “So, birdie, you up for breakfast?” She lifted my wing curled up close to me. 

“Not right now.” I wrapped my arm around her. “Steve sorta explained the concept of being together, but I don’t really understand it.” 

“Okay, what did you want to know?” 

“What’s cheating?” 

“It’s when two people are to together, or a couple, and one of them kisses someone else, like David did with you. There’s more to it, but it’s really complicated. But cheating is bad.” 

“Why?” 

“Because it makes it harder for a relationship to have trust in it, which is probably the most important part of relationships.” 

“I have another question.” 

“What is it?” 

“How do you kiss?” 

“How do I explain this… umm, you stick your lips out like this,” she demonstrated, I repeated. She brought our lips together then pulled away. “Were your eyes open the whole time?” I nodded. “You’re supposed to close your eyes, birdie. Try again.” I closed my eyes, and she kissed me again. I smiled when she pulled away and kissed my cheek. 

“I like kisses.” 

She smiled. “Me too.” 

-

Peter’s face showed no emotion as he heard the steady beeping suddenly flatline. Michael started crying over David’s body. He gathered him in his arms and pressed his face against his shoulder. Peter didn’t interfere except to detach him from the machines he was hooked up to. Michael felt the heat drain from David’s body, even though her was already freezing. “No, David, c’mon, buddy. You gotta wake up. Please.” He sat up and looked at David’s stone-cold face. Peter patted his shoulder then started to leave then stopped. 

“Would you be willing to put him in the bag?” 

Michael nodded, holding his best friend tighter. “Why’d you have to do this, buddy? You could’ve talked to me. I would’ve been there for you, David. Please, don’t go. You gotta stay here. With us. Buddy, we’re here. We’re… here.” He fell to the floor, bringing David crashing down with him. He held him tight because he really would disappear if he let go. 

The Spine slowly came in, and when he saw Michael and David, oil dripped from his eyes. At first, in small streams, then he was sobbing with Michael. Michael gave David to him and walked away, coming back with a body bag. The Spine messaged Chelsea. 

When she came in, she saw David and gasped. “Why’s he on the floor?” The Spine looked sadly at her and shook his head. “You promised, Spine. You promised he was gonna be okay.” She slowly went toward The Spine. He gave David back to Michael and stood. She started to sob and hit his chassis until her hands were bright blue, hurling insults at him until her voice could only manage a small squeak, and The Spine stood there and let it happen. She dropped to her knees in front of him and hugged his legs. He directed her to David, who had been left on the floor by Michael. She crawled to him and collapsed on top of him. She kissed his face and neck and chest down to the oil splotches The Spine left on him. She lifted his top half and held him against her. His head fell on her shoulder, creating the illusion that he was just asleep. She ran her fingers down his cheek and kissed it. “I’m so sorry, David,” she whispered against his skin. She touched their foreheads together then kissed his lips. “Please come back. We still need you down here.” She held him tighter and kissed him again. 

“Chelsea,” Michael softly started. 

“Just a little longer? Please?” 

He set the bag down and slowly backed away from her. She looked at it then started to cry again. David was going in that bag then God knows where. It was all too real for her. She was gonna be alone for the rest of her life. The manor would crumble without David. Everyone would crumble without David. Chelsea was already crumbling. 

Chelsea squeezed him and kissed him one last time before she set him back down and lifted his hand to kiss it, just like he’s done to her when they first met either years before. She set his hand down carefully then got up and walked away. 

-

Someone knocked on the door frame of David’s room, and Chelsea turned to face the wall, pulling David’s blanket over her head. The person walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. They set their hand on Chelsea’s shoulder. She turned to see who it was, and seeing a live and breathing David, she sat up and hugged him tight. He hugged her back gently. “Ow,” he chuckled. “I think you missed me.” She pulled back enough to kiss all over his face. “I think I should die more often.” He held her face and kissed her lips. 

“You must be insane if you think I’m letting you die again,” she whispered against his lips. “You’ve got oil all over your face.” 

He scooted back to lay beside her, wincing as he moved. He pulled the blanket over him and wrapped his arm around Chelsea’s hips. “I don’t know what to do anymore. You’re the only person that knows I’m alive. Do I just not come out of here?” 

“Someone’s gonna find the empty body bag. Spine was probably in the wires when you came out. How’d you even get out?” 

“I was never in it. Y’all left me on the floor.” He urged her to lie down, which she did. She ran her fingers through his hair. He winced again. “Everything hurts, and I’m cold.” 

“Clothes might help with the cold part.” She kissed his forehead. “I’m gonna go get you some painkillers, okay?” She kissed him then got up. He wrapped the blanket tight around himself and closed his eyes. Chelsea dimmed the lights as she left. She went to her room and looked around for her painkiller bottle. When she found that, she dug in her closet for a hoodie that would fit David. She struggled to climb out when she got it. She really had to get Camille to hold some stuff in her closet. 

Chelsea went back into David’s room, and David opened his eyes. He slowly sat up and reached for his water bottle. She grabbed it for him and gave it to him then sat beside him and opened the pill bottle. She shook a couple into David’s open palm then closed it and set it on the nightstand alone with his water bottle. He tried to put the hoodie on but found it was too painful and dropped his arms defeatedly. “I can’t do it.” Chelsea took the hoodie from him and put it on over his head. She helped his arms through the sleeves and pulled the sleeves over his hands. “I can’t even put on a hoodie anymore,” he mumbled. 

“It’s okay, you’ll get better.” 

“I’m worse than I was before. And I can’t take any more tremor meds for a week. There’s no way I can work like this.” 

“I think coming back from the dead is a good excuse for taking a few days off work, yeah?” 

“I’m hungry,” he said out of nowhere. Chelsea laughed softly. He looked hurt. “Why are you laughing at me?” 

“David, I wasn’t laughing at you. You need food pretty badly, huh?” He nodded sheepishly. “Okay, let’s go to the kitchen.” Chelsea stood again and took David’s hands. He looked at his alarm clock. 

“Everyone else is out there,” he said anxiously. 

“Hey,” she said softly, “what’re you so worried about?” 

“They think I’m dead.” 

“Then they’ll be happy to see you alive. You don’t have to stay in there for very long, if you don’t want to.” 

“I wanna see Bunny,” he mumbled, looking down at their hands. 

“Then let’s go see Bunny.” She leaned forward and kissed him. “I love you.” 

“I love you.” He kissed her, holding her face with his enormous sleeve paws. Chelsea giggled quietly. He pulled away. 

“I’m not laughing at you. I just wasn’t expecting you to have paws.” 

“What? Oh, the sleeves. Yeah. I don’t know why it’s so big.” He laughed softly then shivered. Chelsea reached around him for his blanket and wrapped it around him. He grabbed the edges of it and held it tight. 

“Better?” 

He nodded. “A little.” He wrapped Chelsea up in a hug then trapped her in the blanket with him. “I guess we can’t leave now that you’re stuck.” 

“David, do you wanna see Bunny or not?” 

He sighed and let her go. “Fine. You win.” Chelsea took his hands again and gently pulled him to his feet. The blanket fell off his shoulders. David went to pick it back up but didn’t let go of her hands. He looked between the fallen blanket and their hands and sighed. “I’ll be fine,” he mumbled as he started walking- well, waddling was the more accurate term to use. 

Chelsea let go of one of his hands so they could walk side by side. His hands hadn’t stopped shaking. He stuffed his free one in the pocket of his hoodie. Chelsea squeezed his hand. His neck twitched. 

Everyone’s heads turned when David and Chelsea came in. Tears gathered in Michael’s eyes as he got up from his seat and hugged him tight. David tensed up until Michael loosened his grip then wrapped his arms around him, letting go of Chelsea’s hand. Michael pulled away and looked him over. “Are you okay?” 

“Pretty good for being dead an hour ago.” He smiled. 

Michael hugged him again. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” David pulled away from him. “Where’s Bunny?” 

Michael looked sad. “She hasn’t come out of her room since Peter told her.” 

David sighed. “I’ll be back.” He ruffled Clarke’s hair on his way to Bunny’s room. 

-

David knocked on Bunny’s door frame softly. He was met with “unless David’s suddenly back from the dead, go away.” 

He smiled. “Today’s your lucky day.” 

The curtain opened, and Bunny smiled from ear to ear as she tackled him. He bit his tongue to keep from screaming bloody murder. She sat up quickly. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?” 

“Yeah, just really sore.” He hugged her as tight as he could without pain shooting through his body. “You missed me,” he mused. 

“Did you actually die?” 

“Yes, I did. I told you I’d be the next Houdini.” He grinned. 

“I can’t believe you remembered that. That was years ago.” 

They pulled away from each other, and David started fixing Bunny’s hair. “They’ve got dinner out there.” 

“Okay.” She stood and helped David up. They wrapped their arms around each other’s shoulders as they walked back to the kitchen. 

When they entered the room, the whole group was watching the doorway expectantly. Bunny came into view, and they breathed a collective sigh of relief. Clarke looked confused. Camille whispered something to them then kissed their cheek. They smiled. 

David sat beside Chelsea and reached for her hand. She took his in both of hers and held it in her lap. He looked at Clarke’s wings. “Hey, Clarke, how’s your wing?” he asked them. 

They smiled at him. “It’s great. Almost completely healed.” 

It was a lie, and David knew it. “Can I look at it after dinner?” 

Nearly the whole room protested. Great. He shrunk in his seat. “A simple ‘no’ would’ve sufficed,” he mumbled. Chelsea squeezed his hand. He pushed his sleeves up his hands then grabbed an apple. “I need to lie down.” He kissed Chelsea’s lips. 

“Want me to walk you to your room?” she asked quietly. 

“I’ll be fine.” He kissed her again then squeezed Bunny’s shoulder as he walked past her then patted Michael’s shoulder. 

David went past his room to go into the HoW. He saw The Spine trying to zip himself up in a body bag. He knelt beside him and unzipped the bag. “What on Earth are you doing, Spine?” 

“Because if you were dead, I was gonna die too,” he said nonchalantly. “But you’re clearly not dead, so this is pointless.” 

“Why don’t you get out of the body bag, buddy,” David laughed. He offered to help The Spine, but he declined, insisting it couldn’t be good for him to be lifting heavy stuff. He blew it off as The Spine just caring for him. 

“When did you wake up? I’ve been here the whole time.” 

“Like an hour, I think? You were asleep when I did.” 

He nodded slowly. “What are you doing in here? Shouldn’t you be eating?” 

He held up an apple. “I got overwhelmed.” He took a bite out of it as he made his way to the back room. The Spine followed. 

“So you came in here? With the wires that hate you?” 

“Those wires saw me die earlier today. I think they’re okay for now,” David said as he sat on the couch. 

“Those wires have seen far too many things. By the way, Peter knows about you and Chelsea. Has for years.” 

“Was no one going to tell us?” 

“No one knew until he told us.” 

“Were you guys talking about us?” He took another bite from his apple. 

“Mainly you. We were really worried about you.” 

“Was I conscious during that conversation?” 

He nodded as he sat down beside him. “You’d gone to bed during dinner. Chelsea said it was because you were dizzy.” 

“Because you dropped me out of the wires, right?” 

“That was entirely the wires’ doing.” 

“I’ll take your word for it. Yeah, that wasn’t it.” 

“Clearly not because you were nearly dead the next morning. How’d you even manage that many doses with a clear head and no injection sites?” 

“Chelsea helped me with the one I was supposed to take, like she does, the saint, and I put the rest into the apple she gave me and ate it because I knew it was the only one of my scripts that had a chance of killing me and I hate needles.” 

The Spine frowned. “Why did you do it?” 

“Stuff was just stacking up, made life harder to put up with. Before Clarke showed up, even. The only reason they’re generally okay now is because I’d been constantly working with their DNA to figure out what the hell was happening to them, then I’d figured out that their wings probably have to be removed if they’re gonna stay there, and they’ve gotten pretty attached to Camille so making them leave is kinda cruel to both of them. Now, no one’s even letting me near their wing because I just died, I guess. I asked Clarke how it is, and they said it’s almost completely healed, which was a blatant lie. When I asked if I could look at it after dinner, the entire group started yelling about how I should be resting and not worrying about them. There’s no way Peter’s gonna let me take my meds a week early to fix my tremor, so I can’t work for a week.” He took a bite. “I just feel pretty useless now. I’ve been the guy people go to when they need help with something or other, and now I can’t even put on a hoodie. And everything’s been painful since I woke up, and I’m freezing. I think it’s because of those meds. But I can’t test that because I’ll die again, then I lose another week of meds. And testing on other living things is mean. And unethical.” 

The Spine took a minute to take in David’s tangent. “Are you okay?” 

“Oh, yeah, I’m great.” He smiled as he took another bite from the apple. “Why do you ask?” 

“There isn’t anything in that apple, is there?” 

“Relax, it’s just an apple.” He yawned. The Spine eyed the apple suspiciously. “Spine, it’s fine. It’s not doing anything to me. I’m just tired.” He turned and lay down, setting his head in The Spine’s lap. The Spine puffed out steam. 

“You should go to bed, David.” 

“But you’re warm.” He smiled and closed his eyes. The Spine sighed and cradled him in his lap, much like he’d done when the twins stopped sleeping in the same room years before. David laughed softly. “It’s been a while,” he mumbled. The Spine smiled. 

“Would you like me to take you to your room?” 

“Not right now. Could you after I fall asleep?” 

“Of course, David.” 

-

I looked around at the group as they talked about David. Bunny constantly glared at Steve, and Michael kept a close eye on him. Chelsea fidgeted with her gloves, Rabbit and Zer0 looked sad, and Camille kept squeezing my hand. Peter was nowhere to be found, and neither was The Spine. Maybe he was with David. 

“Why do Rabbit and Zer0 look sad?” I asked Camille quietly. 

“The Spine isn’t talking to them, and they don’t know why.” 

“Is he mad at them or something?” 

“We don’t know.” 

I slowly nodded, and Camille squeezed my hand again. I hesitantly kissed her cheek. She smiled. “Did I do it right?” She nodded. 

“Hey, Clarke?” Steve tapped my shoulder. I looked over at him and lifted one eyebrow like I’d seen the humans do. “What’s it like to have wings?” 

“Weird, sometimes. I’ve gotten used to it.” 

“Can I touch one?” 

I shook my head. “I don’t really like people touching them.” 

He looked disappointed. “Alright, then.” He got up and walked past, running his hand along my wing. I stiffened, holding Camille’s hand tighter. She set her hand and my back, careful not to touch my wings. 

“Are you okay?” she asked softly, pulling me closer to her. I set my head on her shoulder and tried to bring my wings in, but they only went halfway, blocked by the bandage. At least it was better than nothing. 

Zer0 grabbed Steve’s arm, making him jump. “They said ‘no.’” Steve nervously looked at the gloved hand squeezing his arm. “Apologize.” 

“Sorry, Clarke.” he mumbled. 

I shook my head, hiding my face. Camille pulled me closer and shook her head. Steve walked away. I let my wings fall out and sat up. The group looked at me concernedly. I stood from my seat and left the room. 

I went to the library and pulled the curtain closed. I went to the corner with the books I’d been learning with and picked one up, sitting on the couch. I turned on a lamp, making it the only light in the room. I started to read, wrapping my wings around myself. Reading those books was a lot easier after practicing nearly every day, and I was starting to read faster. 

I stopped reading when black started to drip on the page. I realized I was crying. But why? All that happened was Steve touched my wing. I told him not to, but that’s not so bad. Maybe I was overreacting. David was also missing for over a day. Maybe that was it. I found myself crying more. I set the book down before the words couldn’t be read past the black drops. I pulled my knees up to my chest and covered them with my wings. 

“Hey, Clarke,” Michael said gently from the other side of the room. “You okay?” I could barely see him through my feathers, but he was slowly coming closer. He came into view and smiled warmly at me. “I figured you wouldn’t want to be alone, but I’ll leave if you want me to.” I shrugged. “Can I sit?” I shrugged again. “Long day, huh?” He sat beside me, keeping a safe distance, which I appreciated. “What’re you reading?” I slid the book closer to him. He picked it up. “What’re these black spots?” 

“Tears,” I whispered. 

“Are you crying?” 

I nodded. 

“That’s kinda cool. Not that you’re crying, but the crying black part.” 

“I’m not supposed to.” 

“Maybe it’s the Blue Matter. It’s already doing the normal stuff to you. The turning white and blue thing.” 

“It’s killing my wings. Or me. David hasn’t figured that out yet. And he can’t even try for another week, so I could die at any given moment, I guess.” 

“Clarke, I can’t understand you through your wings when you mumble.” 

I moved my wings, dropping one of them into Michael’s lap. He looked startled when he saw my face and pulled a cloth from his back pocket. He carefully wiped the tears from my cheeks with it then put it back in his pocket. “I said ‘it’s killing my wings. Or me. David hasn’t figured that out yet, and he can’t even try for another week, so I could die at any given moment, I guess.’” 

“Why haven’t you left, if it’s killing you?” Michael crossed his legs and set the book down. 

“Because I have nowhere else to go. And you all have seemed to be attached to me for whatever reason, and I don’t want to hurt anyone.” 

“Are you and Camille a thing?” 

“I’m not sure. I haven’t talked to her about that yet.” 

“You should.” He smiled encouragingly. “She really likes you.” 

“I can tell.” I smiled. I yawned. 

“Maybe you should go to bed soon. Camille’s pretty worried for you.” 

“I will after I finish my book.” 

“How’s the reading thing going?” he asked as he gave my book back to me. I opened it and found my place. 

“It’s getting easier. I think I’ll be able to read some harder books than this soon.” 

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. Night, Clarke.” He smiled at me as he slowly moved my wing from his lap, watching for my reaction. I rolled it up without looking up. 

“Night, Michael.” I looked up to smile back at him then returned to my book.


	7. Chapter 7

Camille was reading in her bed when I went into her room. She looked up and set her book down. “Are you okay?” I nodded as I got in bed with her. She asked to look at my wing. I stretched it out across her lap, and she lifted the bandage enough to look at the wound then put it back and ran her hand over the top of my wing. “It looks a lot better, but you’re still bleeding black.”

“I’m crying black, too. It’s freaking me out.” I set my head on Camille’s shoulder. She ran her fingers through my hair then moved my hair to uncover my ear. “What’s this?”

“Serial code. It’s how I got my name.”

“Could you be found with this?”

I shook my head. “The people that made me died a long time ago, and I’m pretty sure the papers were burned. I didn’t stick around to find out.” I moved my wing to rest with the other one, turning on my side. I closed my eyes.

“Do you want me to turn the light off?” Camille asked softly.

“No, you can keep reading.” I wrapped my arm around her.

She leaned over to pick her book back up. She read for a while- I was secretly reading along with her- then closed her book with a yawn. “Clarke?”

“Hmm?”

“Just checking.” She reached over me and turned the light off. “You should already be asleep.”

“I was reading your book.”

She laughed softly. “Could you actually understand it?”

“Some of it. I think I understood what was happening. Why did he have to die?”

“Because authors are mean to readers. You know what an author is, don’t you?”

I nodded. “A person that writes things, right?”

She nodded as she lay down. “Okay, now go to sleep.”

“Can I have a kiss?”

She smiled and kissed me. “Now go to sleep.”

-

I frantically ran down the hall, checking every room for Camille. When I couldn’t find her, I went to David’s room, ignoring the burn on my hand from opening the curtain. David looked up at me and sighed. “What do you want?” 

“Have you seen Camille?” 

“Not since last night, why?” 

“I can’t find her anywhere, and her goggles are still on her desk.” 

“Have you tried the kitchen?” 

“No. Thanks.” 

“Hey, is your hand okay?” 

“It’s fine.” I ran off to the kitchen. 

Finding no one, I went to the HoW, where The Spine and Rabbit were wrestling on the floor. I rolled my eyes and went to the back room. Again, she wasn’t there. 

I found Camille’s gloves in the library poking out of a copy of her favorite book. I picked it up and opened it to the first pages one of them was between and saw every word was blacked out except for “she,” “will,” and “return.” I folded the corner of one of the pages and went to the pages the other glove bookmarked. Once again, the words were blacked out, but instead of leaving some words alone, a silver message was scrawled across the pages: “but she won’t be the same.” 

I took the book with me back to David’s room. He looked up. “Did you find her?” 

“She’s gone.” 

“What do you mean ‘gone?’” 

“Someone took her. She’s gone.” 

He stood up slowly, watching the lump in his blanket as he did then followed me out. “Someone took her? Do you know who?” 

“I have a pretty good idea.” 

-

Tired grunts and groans were shared as coffee was passed around. David gave Bunny and Chelsea small cups of pills and kisses on their heads. Steve was the first to speak: “how come they get kisses and we don’t?” 

David rolled his eyes but didn’t respond. 

Michael looked around. “Is Camille with the ‘bots?” 

David stood behind Chelsea and grabbed her shoulders. He nodded toward me. 

“Someone took Camille,” I announced. Chelsea’s head snapped up, and she started to stand, stopping when David pushed her back down. 

Bunny spoke first: “who?” It caused an uproar of questions from Steve and MIchael that was quickly stopped when The Spine’s hands covered their mouths. He leaned down and whispered something to them. 

“Continue, Clarke.” 

“Thanks, The Spine. They left a message in this book-” I held up the book- “and left her gloves in the pages. We don’t know when she was taken, but I think I know who did it: the same group that made me.” 

Chelsea set her coffee down. “You mean she’s gone because you showed up.” 

David covered her mouth. “Let them finish.” 

“No, she’s right,” Steve argued. The Spine pulled his head back by his hair and growled in his ear. 

Bunny sighed. “Who?” 

“They don’t have a name, and I never saw where they operate. Keep in mind the country wasn’t whole when I was made. It could be literally anywhere, but they said they’d bring her back.” 

“Did they also conveniently say when?” Chelsea demanded. 

“Unfortunately, no. And we can't look for her. Believe me, I speak from experience.” 

“Oh, yeah? Who’ve you been looking for while doing nothing here?” She crossed her arms. 

“I’ve been looking for my brother for seventy years.” 

That shut her up rather quickly. David gave me an apologetic look. 

Michael looked up. “Clarke, I hate to be that guy, but we’re all at risk. If these people find out we have sentient robots, who knows what they’ll do.” 

David winced. “He has a point.” He glanced at Chelsea then Bunny. “But we can’t just kick them out.” 

“David’s right,” Bunny said. “We didn’t get rid of Steve when he caused trouble. Y’all didn’t kick David and I out when we recovered. Michael, you know better than anyone else here that getting sent away fucking sucks, sorry Spine. Clarke’s presence alone can’t be enough to get us all killed.” 

“Thanks, Bunny,” I said quietly. She smiled into a cough. I got her a glass of water. 

“So what do we do?” Chelsea asked. “Just wait for her to come back and hope she isn’t broken beyond repair?” 

“That’s all we can do, Chelsea. I hate this just as much as you do.” 

“Just leave before they take someone else, freak.” She got up and left the room. David mouthed “I’m so sorry” and followed her. 

Bunny set her hand on mine. “Are you alright” 

“Yeah, I’m okay.” 

Steve shook his head. “Of course you’re okay. This shit doesn’t affect you.” 

“Stop it, guys. We don’t need this drama on top of the current situation,” Michael pleaded. 

“Shut up, Mike!” Steve snapped. The Spine lifted him by his armpits and carried him away. He returned with Rabbit and Zer0. Rabbit stood behind Bunny with her hands on her shoulders. I looked down at my feet. 

“Clarke?” Zer0 tapped my shoulder. “Do you want a hug?” 

“No, I’m okay.” 

The Spine poured a cup of coffee and took it to Peter’s office. Rabbit smiled hopefully. David returned with his hand held out. “Bunny, can you help me patch this up?” 

“What happened?” She downed the rest of her coffee and got up. 

“My curtain. Chelsea turned it up way too high.” He looked at his hand. “I think it might actually kill the rest of you.” 

“You’re dripping blood, David. Try not to shake so much.” 

“I literally can’t, Bun.” 

Bunny grabbed a couple paper towels and carefully wiped his hand off. “Let’s go. Michael?” She looked back at him. 

“I’m on it.” He got up and started to clean the blood off the floor. “Clarke, you wanna help me for the day?” 

“Yeah, I can do that.” I stretched and took the book to Camille’s room. 

-

Camille couldn’t see anything. Chains rattled when she moved to wrap her arms around herself. She felt very little clothing on her body, but the necklace Clarke had given her for her birthday was still around her neck. She wondered if anything had happened to them or if they were looking for her. 

What if they sent her away?” 

Camille’s train of thought was pushed off its tracks when a door opened, and someone was thrown into the room with her. She cautiously crawled toward them. “Hello?” 

“I-is someon-ne there?” 

“I’m not gonna hurt you. My name’s Camille. What’s your name?” 

“De- Dean.” 

Camille’s chains pulled taut as she moved closer. “I can’t come any closer.” 

“Please don’t.”

“I can’t, Dean. Do you have chains, too?” 

“No. Can you see anything?” 

“No.” 

“But I can see you,” they muttered. “Is anyone looking for you?” 

“I don’t know. I hope my family is.” 

“Who’s your family?” 

“Do you want names?” 

“Yes.” 

“Chelsea, David, Bunny, Clarke, Steve, Michael, Rabbit, The SPine, and Zer0. Oh, and Peter.” 

“Did you say Clarke?” 

“Yeah, they’re my significant other.” 

“I’m their brother.” 

‘No, way, really?” 

“They have wings, right?” 

:Yeah, big black ones.” 

“Are they okay?” 

“Yeah, they’re great, as far as I know. We’re teaching them to read and write.” 

“You mean someone actually got through to them?” 

“The Spine did, yes.” 

“Is The Spine human?” 

“No, he’s a robot, but he’s characteristically human.” 

“And Rabbit and Zer0 are robots, too?” 

“Yep.” 

“Are you human?” 

“Yes.” 

“Why is your skin white?” 

“Radiation from working with the robots.” 

“Are they sentient?” 

“Yes.” 

“Can they feel stuff? Like human senses?” 

“They only have sight and sound, but they can feel weight and temperature.” 

“So they get cold?” 

“Not exactly. Their bodies just don’t work as well when it’s cold.” 

“That’s cool. Is Clarke turning white, too?” 

“NOt as quickly as we did, but yes.” 

“‘We?’” 

“Chelsea, David, Bunny, and I.” 

“Is it reversible?” 

“I don’t know.” 

“Tell me more about the robots.” 

“They all sing. They’re a robot band.” 

“What do David, Chelsea, and Bunny do?” 

They all work on the robots. Maintenance and stuff.” 

“That’s awesome. And you’re all family?” 

“David and Bunny are twins, and Chelsea’s my older sister.” 

“Who’s Peter?” 

“Our boss.” Camille yawned. 

“I’ll let you sleep. Just do me a favor?” 

“Sure.” 

Dean clicked on a flashlight and came closer, the light shining in Camille’s eyes. 

“Don’t scream.” 

-

I woke up to someone tapping on my shoulder. I looked over and saw GG climbing onto the bed. “What do you want, GG?” 

“Cuddles,” she whispered and lay down in the crook of my knees. 

“That’s it?” 

“And some peace and quiet. The humans are fighting again.” 

“I know. THat’s why I’m in here.” 

“Cool, now shh.” She set her head on my leg. I squeezed Camille’s pillow tighter and covered myself with my wings. 

-

David knocked on his door frame softly. “Chelesa?” He experimentally touched the curtain, and when it didn’t burn him, he opened it enough to slip in then closed it. He saw Chelsea curled up in his bed with tear tracks down her cheeks and sat beside her, moving her hair out of her face. “Need some company?” 

She nodded. “Thanks,” she squeaked. 

“I’m here for you. Anything you need.” 

“Hold me?” 

“He smiled. “Of course.” He lay down by her and wrapped her up in his arms, tangling their legs together. 

“I shouldn’t have called Clarke a freak. I bet they hate me now,” she mumbled. 

“There’s no way Clarke hates you. They feel really bad about making the rest of us argue.” 

“I gotta apologize to them.” 

“Just do it when you’re ready. Clarke’ll understand.” 

She sighed. “I’m such an asshole.” 

“No one else seems to think so. We all agreed there would be hell to pay if something happened to our siblings.” 

“Michael doesn’t have siblings.” 

“He's had many over the years.” He kissed her hair. “Remember when Bunny had surgery and they wouldn’t let me in the HoW until she woke up days later? I wasn’t fun to be around, was I?” 

She giggled softly. “I made you sleep on the floor.” 

“You did, and my back still hasn’t forgiven you. I tried talking to it, I swear.” 

“No, you didn’t.” 

“No, I didn’t.” He smiled. “Feeling any better?” 

“A little. Keep talking?” 

“Okay… It’s sunny outside, I think. I haven’t been outside in a while. Or opened a window. But we don’t have a front door.” 

THe lights throughout the manor went out as thunder shook the building. 

“Okay, I lied. We’re all screwed. I’m a terrible weather man guy. Who hired me? I’m not qualified for this job. I’m just a Dr. Suess tree.” 

Chelsea struggled to catch her breath from laughing. “Dr. Suess tree?” 

“Y’know, white bark, colored leaf things. They were all cotton, I think. Thneed material.” 

“You’re really good at this.” 

“Always happy to help.” He squeezed her tight. 

Someone knocked on the door frame and yelled “everyone in the basement!” Chelsea groaned. 

“Do we have to?” 

David sighed. “I guess so.” 

They got up and followed Clarke down to the basement. Peter did a head count then looked around. “Where’s Camille?” 

The group stayed silent. 

“Well?” 

“She’s not here,” Michael said quietly. 

:Like not in the manor?” 

Everyone shook their heads. 

“Is she somewhere safe.” 

“Yes,” Clarke confirmed. 

“Good. Thank you, Clarke.” 

Clarke nodded and sat against the wall. Michael sat with them. 

David led Chelsea to another part of the wall and sat with her. She looked around warily. David held her hand. 

“You think she’s okay?” she asked quietly. 

“I don’t think the storm will affect her.” 

“Not helping.” 

“Clarke knows that place better than anyone here. They said she’s safe.” 

“From the storm.” 

He sighed. “I was hoping you didn’t catch that part.” 

Rabbit snuck in and whispered something to Peter. He sighed. “Clarke?” 

“Yes?” They looked up. 

“GG won’t come in here unless you get her.” 

“Where is she?” 

“Hiding under a bench right outside the front door,” Rabbit said. 

“Alright.” They got up and went out. 

-

I set Dean down and looked around for GG. When I found her taking refuge in The Spine’s lap, I looked at him. “We can’t help you right now, I don’t think.” 

“Clarke, who’s this?” David asked. 

“Oh, right. Guys, this is Dean, my brother.” 

Chelsea scoffed. Dean smiled at her. “You must be Camille’s older sister. She told me quite a bit about you.” 

“Is she okay?” 

“She’s alright. A little shaken up, but nothing too terrible.” 

Peter huffed. “What is going on?” 

“My former employer took your employee,” Dean explained. 

“‘Former employer?’” I demanded. “After everything we went through there, you started working for them?” 

“Clarke-” Michael grabbed my elbow. “We’ll talk later.” 

I ignored him. “Dean, what the hell is wrong with you?” 

å“I got fired and beat up for protecting her. You’re lucky I didn’t fuck her and leave her for dead,” Dean grolwed through his teeth. I didn’t have a chance to respond before Chelsea grabbed him by his tattered shirt collar and threw him against the wall. He grabbed his ribs and squeaked when he hit it. She got in his face and spoke softly but harshly to him. 

David sighed contently beside me. “She’s great, isn’t she?” 

“He wasn’t like this before,” I thought aloud. 

“He’s getting what he deserves, but damn, am I lucky.” 

“How?” 

“I get to piss her off every day. I mean, I could. I don’t, though. Tales a lot to make her this mad.” 

“Like threatening Camille?” 

“And being sexist. Both of which he did.” He looked back at Chelsea and Dean. He’d pinned her against the wall, and she looked terrified. David stepped in and pushed Dean backs. “Only I get to do that, buddy.” 

Michael snorted. Chelsea moved to stand by me. “I’m gonna kill your brother.” 

“He’s not usually like this.’ 

“It’s been seventy years, Clarke.” 

I shook my head. “He never spoke ill of anyone. Not since Hitler died.” 

“That was seventy two years. People change, buddy. She sighed. “Sorry for calling you a freak, by the way.” 

“It’s alright. You didn’t mean anything by it.” 

“You’re not mad?” 

“Don’t do it again.” 

“Yes, sir.” 

“I’m not a ‘sir.’” 

“Do you have a gender?” 

I shook my head. “Means nothing to me.” 

“Can I paint your nails sometime?” 

“Sure. Camille has a color I really like.” 

“Perfect.” She glared at Dean, who was grumbling as David joyfully poked his face. “Any chance we can throw him back outside?” 

“No, Chelsea,” The Spine said to her. 

“I second that motion,” David said. 

“Guys,” I spoke, “I know he’s an asshole-” 

“Hey!” 

“- but we can’t ditch him in storm. Besides, he’s injured.” 

“Thanks, Clarke, but why am I an asshole?” 

“Dude, you managed to piss Chelsea off in every way imaginable in a single sentence. Do you know how difficult that is? I’ve been trying for years!” David turned his head so he could poke his cheek. 

“David!” Chelsea scolded. 

“Sorry, it’s just funny.” 

She glared at him. 

Rabbit ticked and whirred as she made her away over to Dean. “You ca-an stay, but you’re not leaving my sight. Got it?” 

Dean nodded. David let go of him and checked on Chelsea before glueing himself to Bunny’s side. I led Chelsea back to wall and sat with her. She scooted close and leaned against me. 

“Are you cold?” I asked softly. She nodded. I slowly brought my wings out and wrapped them and my arm around her. She hummed contently then coughed violently into her elbow. I patted her band. “You okay?” She nodded despite the tears running down her face. 

“Peter, my meds,” David said suddenly. 

“The storm should pass before you need to take them again.” 

I looked over at him checking his watch anxiously. 

“Why so nervous, big guy?” Dean teased. 

“It’s not your business,” he shot back. 

Chelsea checked her watch. “Peter, are you sure? There’s not a lot of time before-” 

“Yes, I’m sure!” he snapped. The Spine gave him a look. 

“Peter-” 

“That’s enough, Spine.” 

Bunny tried to comfort David, who was trembling worse than he already was. 

Dean sat beside me. “Why’s everyone so worried about him?” 

“It’s not your business,” I whispered. “Don’t worry about it.” 

Chelsea moved to sit in my lap and set her head on my shoulder. I glanced at David. He appeared to be sleeping on Bunny. The room was coated in an uncomfortable silence interrupted only by the robots releasing steam. 

“So what’s everyone’s favorite color?” Dean asked the group. 

“Shut up, Dean,” I mumbled. 

“Tough crowd,” he said under his breath. 

David started coughing and gasping for air. 


	8. Chapter 8

Camille couldn't see, but the room she was in was in was perfectly lit with small lamps lining the walls. Renaissance paintings lined the walls similar to the layout of a museum, but she couldn't make out what they were because of the spots in her vision and the dizziness that came with the pain in her shoulder blades. She just wished she could know what happened to make them hurt so much. They never let her see their faces or herself or anything but the four walls of wherever she was though she didn't think she could bear to see herself. 

She knew for a fact she couldn't put up with that horrible man or the disgusting clothes he made her wear for much longer. He was the only face she got to see while she was there, which made it infinitely harder to stay sane while trapped in those rooms. 

She just hoped someone could find her and soon. 

-

David looked awful. His eyes had sunken into his head, and dark circles formed around them. The rise and fall of his chest indicated he was breathing but not nearly enough. His heart wasn't beating enough to keep him off life support, at least until he could take his meds again. 

Chelsea hadn't moved since he was put in the makeshift hospital bed in the backroom of the HoW. Michael had brought her a bowl of oatmeal in the morning and a sandwich in the afternoon, but both remained untouched on the floor beside the chair she'd abandoned in favor of lying with David. 

He still hadn't woken up. His arms were riddled with IVs, a tube was down his throat, and a mask covered his mouth and nose. Chelsea knew he wouldn't be enthused about any of it. She sorta took comfort in his unconsciousness. Maybe he would stay that way until they could be taken out. 

Someone came into the HoW and walked around, seeming to look for something. "Hello?" Clarke called. "Chelsea?" 

"Back room," Chelsea yelled back, covering David's ears out of habit. 

Clarke smiled at her when they stopped in the doorway. "How is he?" 

"Alive. Still unconscious. What do you need?" 

"I have your book. Michael told me to give it to you." 

She smiled and graciously took the book they held out toward her. "Thanks. Now don't take this the wrong way, but get out." 

"Do you want me to take the food on the floor, too?" 

"Would you please? Thanks so much." 

Clarke nodded. "Of course. Take care of yourself." 

Chelsea nearly snorted. "You too, buddy." 

They took the sandwich and oatmeal off the floor and went back out with an extra spring in their step that brought Chelsea an unreasonable amount of joy. She opened her book to the first page and settled herself carefully against David's side as she began reading aloud. 

-

The Spine rather liked having Clarke around. Like the humans, they were full of life and joy in his eyes. He liked seeing how well they were getting along with the others. He knew for a fact David had grown attached to them. 

The Spine didn't like seeing his friends argue all the time. He wished Camille hadn't left. The humans wouldn't be at each other's throats if she hadn't, but it wasn't her decision to get kidnapped. He couldn't blame her for that, but he hoped she would come back soon and in one piece. 

For now, burying himself in a book sounded very good. 

-

Bunny rolled over in her bed and dropped her sketchbook onto the floor. She missed Camille. The manor was so much brighter with her around. Even Zer0, the most cheerful 'bot out of the three, had an intricate sadness tied to him all day long. She hoped he would come back around soon and that the others would stop fighting though she quite enjoyed seeing The Spine carry Steve out of the room when he snapped at Michael. 

She was told not to worry about DavidShe did her best to not be angry at Peter, but it was hard to. David would’ve been fine if he were allowed to get his meds. Bunny was sure Peter was kicking himself for it, anyway. No need to kick a dead horse. 

-

I peeked into the library and saw The Spine lying on the floor with a book resting on his face and his hat on his chest. I snuck in and grabbed a book nearly at random, wincing when The Spine moved. He lifted the book and smiled weakly at me. “Hello, Clarke.” 

“Are you alright?” 

He nodded as well as he could. “The manor’s just really loud as of late.” 

I nodded in agreement. “I’m trying to avoid it.” 

“Is that what you’re doing now?” 

“I think so. I just came for a book.” 

He smiled just enough for me to see it. “I found one with one of Camille’s bookmarks in it, if you’re interested.” 

“Where is it?” 

“I set it on the couch.” 

“Thanks.” I went to the couch and picked up the book off the cushion. I opened it at the marked page and nearly dropped the book. Inside it was a Polaroid photo of Camille wearing hardly anything and staring blankly at something out of the frame. She was curled up in a ball, and the blur surrounding her indicated she was shivering. Small cuts and scrapes and bruises covered her entire body. Her hair was curling, and the blue was fading to green. Hand-shaped bruises dug deep into one of her hips. 

“Is something wrong, Clarke?” The Spine appeared at my side and looked over at my shoulder and gasped, pushing steam out of his face. “Is there a way we can get her before they bring her back?” I didn’t answer. “Clarke?” He set his hand gently on my shoulder, and he seemed to understand why I couldn’t speak as he pulled me into a careful hug. 

-

I should really stop throwing things, Peter thought as he cleaned up yet another broken flower pot. 

-

Dinner came too soon for nearly everyone in the manor. Bunny was quiet, Michael could keep his vision tearless enough to effectively cook. Steve didn’t even bother trying. David was still unconscious, and Chelsea hadn’t left the HoW since the night before. The robots silently refilled their boilers and offered comfort to the humans. Clarke didn’t even show. 

Peter saw the group and sighed. “Pizza sound good, guys?” 

They mumbled in passive agreement. Michael sat down after giving up on chopping a carrot. 

Rabbit played with Bunny’s hair, and she turned to tell her to stop. She looked hurt but did. The Spine touched Rabbit’s arm, and she moved closer to him. Zer0 tapped his fingertips together and looked around like a kicked puppy. 

It was going to be a long however-long-this-is-going-to-last. 

-

David woke up rather calmly despite the tube down his throat and needles stuck in his arms that he shouldn’t have been able to feel but could nonetheless. He felt a pressure at his side and determined it was Chelsea when he heard her reading aloud to him. She didn’t seem to notice his new consciousness, and he quite enjoyed listening to her voice so he remained still. He vaguely wondered when he could take his meds again and get out of this damn bed. And what time was it, anyway? 

How was Camille? Was she okay? Is Dean still in the manor or was he sent away? 

No, Clarke wouldn’t let him leave while still injured. A shame. The bastard deserved it. He could hear The Spine scolding him for being impolite. 

“David?” Chelsea stopped reading. As if he could verbally answer. He turned his head enough to alert her and smiled just a little. She marked the page in the book she was reading and kissed his forehead. He weakly tapped his wrist. She looked at her watch. “A little after six. You’re gonna be in here for a couple more hours.” David rolled his eyes. “I know, honey. We finally found a way to get you to shut up, though.” David motioned for her to come closer, and when she did, he blew air in her face through his nose. She chuckled. “I didn’t think we’d have to do this again.” 

David pointed at his chest. Chelsea shook her head. “Not your fault.” He nodded. “David, no. Peter should’ve let you get your meds. But that’s over now, right?” David nodded after some hesitation. “Are you hungry?” He shook his head. Eating food was nearly impossible with the blasted tube anyway. Could he take a nap until then? 

Chelsea’s stomach rumbled, and David raised his eyebrows, poking her side. Eat something, he tried to convey. God knows how long she’d gone without eating. 

“Will you be okay alone?” 

David tried to push her out of the bed. She giggled and set her hand on his arm. “Okay, I’m going. Are you sure you’re not hungry?” He nodded. “I’ll be back.” She kissed his cheek and got up slowly. He tried to gasp when she stumbled. He reached for her with what he hoped was a concerned look on his face. She held up her hand, signalling that she was okay. He didn’t believe her. 

Once she left, David picked the book Chelsea was reading to him up and started reading it from the beginning. He liked reading what she was reading. It gave them things to ramble about together. And it was a good way to kill time. 

-

Chelsea heard sniffling and choked sobs coming from Camille’s room, which was never good. Camille’s room was the happiest room in the manor. No one ever cried in there. She stopped at the doorway and peeked in. She saw Clarke’s wings shivering around them on the floor. She went in and knelt beside them and carefully set her hand on their back. They way they flinched made Chelsea’s heart break. They looked up with smeared black tears staining their face. 

“What’re you doing here?” they croaked. 

“Have you eaten anything today?” 

“Why do you care? Do you suddenly care about freaks like me?” 

“Clarke…” 

“Please… just leave.” 

“Are you going to be a danger to yourself if I do?” 

“You don’t care.” 

“Honey, I really do.” She started to reach for their hand but decided against it. “Do you want me to bring you something to eat?” 

“Will you poison it?” 

She couldn’t help but laugh a little. “No, I won’t poison it. You gonna be okay for like five minutes?” 

“I’ve been fine all day.” 

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” She got up and made her way to the kitchen. She grabbed a couple apples and slipped out unnoticed. She snuck past Camille’s room and checked on David, letting him know she’d be with Clarke for a while, (to which he replied with a thumbs up.) 

Chelsea went back to Camille’s room, where Clarke was in the same position as before. She sat beside them and held out the apple. “Ever eaten one of these before?” 

They nodded and took it from her. They examined it for a moment then took a bite out of it. “Did you poison it?” 

“If I wanted you dead, I would’ve killed you by now.” 

“I know a lot of people that don’t mean that.” Chelsea said nothing. She started eating her apple. “How’s David?” 

“He’s awake and a little pissed about it, but he’s doing good.” 

“Why’s he pissed?” 

“He was hoping he could sleep through the day. He's never terribly enthusiastic when this happens." 

Clarke nodded slowly and felt their face. "It's black, right?" 

Chelsea nodded. "Was it before you came here?" 

They shrugged. "I didn't know what I look like before I came here." 

She raised her eyebrows. "No photos, no mirrors for- for nearly two centuries?" 

They shook their head. "I never cared about it." 

She nodded slowly. "So how'd you end up with Dean?" 

"We were dropped off together." 

"You’re not actually siblings?” 

“Not biologically, no. He’s human.” 

“Does he have wings, too?” 

They nodded. “As far as I know.” 

“That’s horrible.” 

“But it’s fine for me?” 

“I didn’t mean it that way, buddy.” 

"I know," they sighed. "Sorry." 

"I understand. Do you need a hug or something?" 

They looked at the alarm clock on Camille's nightstand. "I think I just need some sleep." They looked down at the apple core in their hand. 

"I can throw that away for you." Chelsea started to stand. "I need to go back to David, anyway." 

"How is he?" 

"... You already asked that." 

"Oh." They held out the apple core, and Chelsea took it. "Thanks." 

"No problem. Do you wanna come with me to see him?" 

"Can I wash my face first?" 

Chelsea nodded. "I'll be right back." She left quietly and threw the two apple cores away in the kitchen then collected David's meds from his room and checked if he could take his injection. She grabbed a syringe and a bottle. 

When she went back to Camille's room and led Clarke to the HoW, where David was still reading. He looked up and smiled until his gaze fell onto the syringe in her hand. His eyes widened, and his body language went from calm to anxious. They smiled timidly at Clarke as they went to sit in the chair beside the bed. 

"What's that thing in your mouth?" they asked. 

David marked his page in the book and flipped to the inside cover then looked around. Chelsea pulled a pencil out of her dress pocket and gave it to him. He wrote something down and showed them. They nodded slowly. 

“David, stop writing in the book. I’ll get you some paper.” 

He signed “thank you.” 

Clarke’s face lit up as they started signing to him. David signed “yes.” They crossed their legs and continued signing. David smiled and signed back. Chelsea smiled fondly at them then went to get some paper. 

When Chelsea came back, Clarke was sitting in front of David on the bed with her book in their lap. They were sounding out a word. Chelsea looked over their shoulder. “Affliction,” she offered. 

“I almost had hit,” they pouted. 

“Alright, I’ll stop helping.” She kissed David’s cheek then sat in the chair. Clarke continued reading aloud. 

Peter entered, and everyone looked at him. David waved. Peter waved back and looked at Chelsea. “Do you have his meds?” Chelsea nodded. 

David signed to him fast enough that not even Clarke could understand what he’d said. 

“David, I never learned sign language.” 

Clarke whispered “do it again.” He did. They turned to Peter. “He asked if he could ‘get this shit off.’” 

He chuckled. “Yes, you can. Clarke, I need you to leave, unless you’re planning on holding his head.” 

David signed to Clarke, and they got up and left. 

-

I looked up from my book when someone knocked on the doorframe. “Come in,” I said. 

Chelsea opened the curtain and slipped in. “David’s asleep,” she announced as she sat on Camille’s bed. 

“Is he okay?” 

“Yeah, he’s great. How’s Dean?” 

“His ankle is sprained, two of his ribs are cracked, and he has a black eye.” 

“So he can’t leave yet, can he?” 

“No, but he can’t walk for a while, so there’s a very low chance of actually seeing him.” 

We were both silent for a while until Chelsea asked: “Do you think he really got beat up for Camille?” 

“I don’t know anymore,” I sighed. “It’s been seventy years. People change. I hope he isn’t lying.” 

“Do you know when Camille’s coming back?” 

“No idea. Hopefully soon.” 

Someone else knocked on the doorframe, and Chelsea and I stared at it. Why did everyone want to be in here? 

“Yeah?” Chelsea answered. 

“It’s me,” Bunny said. “Can I come in?” 

“Sure.” 

She opened the curtain enough to come in then closed it. “What’re y’all doing?” 

“Nothing too exciting. David’s asleep, if you’re looking for him?” 

“In his room or the HoW?” 

“My room.” Bunny gave Chelsea a look. “It was closer, and he was on drugs.” 

“He’s always on drugs.” 

“He’s back on the injection.” 

“So he’s finally gonna stop dropping everything?” 

“Not everything. He’s still clumsy.” 

“What does ‘clumsy’ mean?” I asked. 

“Uncoordinated,” Bunny said. "He drops stuff a lot." 

I nodded slowly. "Will y'all be mad if I kick you out? I'm about to go to bed." 

"Without dinner?" Chelsea asked. 

I shrugged. "Not hungry." 

They both started to leave. "Night, Clarke," Bunny said. 

"Night." 

Chelsea stood in place until Bunny closed the curtain then she hugged me tight. My wings shot out on their own accord, nearly knocking everything on Camille's desk over. I hesitantly returned the hug then wrapped my wings around her. 

"Thank you," she whispered. She pulled away and left the room, closing the curtain behind her. 

-

I woke up in the middle of the night to a folded piece of paper being dropped on my head. When I looked to see who it was, I only saw the curtain on the doorway swishing. I got up and ran out to find whoever woke me up, but I found no one was there. 

I went back to Camille's room and unfolded the paper. On it was a letter written to me and signed by Camille: 

Clarke, 

Tell the others I'm okay. I don't know where I am or when I'll get out of here, but I know they're not going to hurt me anymore. 

I met your brother. He misses you. He really likes the stories I told him about the automatons. He’s gone now, and I don’t know why he left. Maybe you’ll see him sometime. 

Don’t move my bookmarks. 

Camilla

I put a shirt on before I went to the HoW. "Spine! Spine, where are you?" 

The Spine emerged from the wires with a tired glare on his face. "What do you want, Clarke?" 

"Camille wrote a note." I held up the paper. He read the text and smiled a little. 

"I need you to take me to my chassis, if you will,” he said quietly. I held out my arm, and he slid onto it and perched on my shoulder. I took him to his body in the back room and let him slither off my shoulder onto his own. He connected his head to his body then held out his hand toward the paper. I gave it to him. “This isn’t her.” 

“What? That’s her handwriting, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, but she would never say any of this.” He got up and located a pen and pad of paper. He read over Camille’s note then wrote a different note on the other paper. When he was done, he set the pen down and showed me his note. “That sounds more like her.” 

I read his note and nodded. “You’re right. Shouldn’t we show the others?” 

He shook his head. “Absolutely not. They would notice, too.” He puffed out steam and frowned. “I need water. Is anyone else awake?” 

“I don’t think so.” 

“I will be back, then.” 

-

The Spine did his best not to stumble as he went down the hall, but he ended up crashing into David’s room. He didn’t mean to be so loud, but he literally could do nothing about it. He just hoped he could crawl away before David or Chelsea woke up. 

“Spine? What’re you- shit, you need water.” David quickly got up and went to his bathroom. He came back with a big cup of water with a straw. He knelt beside The Spine and held the straw out to him. He drank most of the water way too quickly than he should have, and he did the automatonic equivalent of coughing. “Better?” David asked. The Spine nodded. 

“Thank you, David,” he said softly. He rose to his feet and brushed the dust off his vest. 

“Any news on Camille?” 

“Nothing yet.” 

He really hated lying to David. 

-

“Mom?” Camille looked up the familiar figure in the corner of the barely lit cell she was thrown into. 

“Hi, honey.” She smiled sweetly exactly like Camille’s mom would. 

“What’re you doing here?” 

“I’m here to see you. Why were you put back in this old place.” 

“... I scratched his eye.” 

To Camille surprise and horror, her mom looked disappointed. “Why would you do that, Camille?” 

“He’s horrible.” 

“You won’t have a chance of going back home if you keep this up. You shouldn’t be in here.” 

“But-” 

“No ‘buts,’ honey. You can’t. They were gonna bring you back today, but they won’t now.” 

“What do I do?” 

“What you’re told.” 

And just as quickly as she came, she left. 

-

The Spine found Clarke on the couch with their wings wrapped tight around them. He sat beside them and set their hand on their back. “Clarke?” 

“She’s not coming back,” they mumbled. 

“Do you know that for sure?” 

“It’s been too long. I was never there for more than two days at a time.” They leaned over into The Spine’s lap. 

“Didn’t they say she’d return? Have they ever not done what they said they would do?” 

“All the time.” 

The Spine puffed out steam. “I’m sure they’ll bring her back.” He braced his arm across Clarke’s shoulders so they didn’t fall. 

“I’m sorry,” they squeaked. “I don’t know why I’m so upset about this. It’s all my fault, anyway.” They shrank away from The Spine’s hand when he touched their head. 

“You really think that?” The Spine’s brows came together and nearly shuddered when Clarke nodded. 

“Chelsea was right. I shouldn’t be here.” 

The Spine hugged them as tight as he would allow himself to. Clarke didn’t seem to be in pain, to his relief. “Clarke, you belong here. You’re family now.” 

“I didn’t mean to.” 

The Spine chuckled dryly. “No one really means to, Clarke. It just happens.” 

“Can I undo it?” 

“That’s not how family works.” 

“That’s how it’s been for seventy years,” they mumbled. 

“Dean is a bad example.” 

“He’s my only example.” They sniffled. “I survived America’s deadliest war. How is this so much worse than that?” 

“I don’t know, Clarke. I don’t understand emotions like humans do. Or human-like creatures, excuse me.” He patted their back. “I wish I could help more. I don’t like seeing my family upset.” 

“If I’m family, does that make us siblings?” 

“Not quite. I consider you to be my friend, and my friends are my family. My only real siblings are the other automatons. If you want to call me your brother, I’m okay with that.” The Spine was especially relieved when he felt Clarke smile. 

“Thanks, The Spine.” 

“Any time, kiddo.” 


	9. Chapter 9

Bunny clung to David during breakfast, and he seemed to be too tired to care. He stared longingly at her coffee. She offered it to him, and he shook his head. Chelsea kissed the top of his head as she walked by with her own coffee. She hugged Zer0 then Rabbit then me. The Spine looked down and quietly asked. “Do I get a hug?” Chelsea smiled and hugged him. David and Bunny smiled at them. 

“You’re in a good mood today, Chelsea,” I said. 

She flashed a bright smile my way. “It’s a good day.” The room lightened. 

“Where’s Dean?” Bunny asked, guiding David’s head to rest on her shoulder. 

“He can’t walk, so I’m gonna bring him some food,” I told her. She nodded as David’s nodded off. “David, are you okay?” 

“He’s fine.” Chelsea said. “His meds are just strong. He’ll be back to normal in a couple hours.” 

“Does all medicine make you sleepy?” 

“A lot do as a side effect, but he takes stuff specifically for sleeping.” 

I poured a cup of coffee and grabbed an apple out of the bowl on the counter. “I’ll be back.” 

I took the apple and coffee to the guest bedroom, where Dean was sleeping with GG watching him in a chair in the corner of the room. 

“Dean,” I called as I set the coffee down on the nightstand and poked his shoulder. He groaned as he slowly woke up. 

“What do you want?” he asked as he sat up with a wince. 

“You need to eat something. And there’s coffee, if you want it.” 

He made a face. “Coffee’s gross.” 

I gave him the apple and picked the coffee cup back up. “Are you in any pain?” 

“Always.” 

“Dean, a serious answer, please.” 

“Yeah, it’s coming back. My leg.” 

“What about your ribs?” 

“Only when I breathe.’ 

“Well, you should eat before we give you drugs.” 

“‘We?’” 

“David and I.” 

“Why does it take two people?” 

“Because I know your medical history, and David’s a medical professional.” 

“What the hell do you think you know about me?” 

“Just eat the apple.” I got and patted GG’s head as I made my way back out. 

“Clarke?” 

I turned my head. “Yeah?” 

“Thanks.” 

“Don’t mention it.” I left. 

When I got back to the kitchen, Chelsea and Michael were making eggs. Bunny was trying to keep David awake enough to eat the piece of toast in front of him. He kept leaning on her and closing his eyes. I sat beside him and nudged the plate closer to him. 

“You gotta eat something, David,” I pleaded. 

He nodded and reached for it. He stared at it, and Bunny tipped his elbow so it came closer to his face. He bit into it then set it down and shook his head. The Spine set a glass of water with a straw in front of him. "Good morning, David." 

"Mornin'," David mumbled. "Thanks." 

They shared a short-lived smile, and The Spine rejoined the other robots. Steve looked around the room as he walked in. “Why’s everyone in such a good mood? Did Camille come back?” 

Chelsea immediately frowned. Michael nudged her arm with his elbow and whispered something to her. She shook her head. 

“Not yet,” I told him. “She should be back soon, if I remember correctly.” 

“How long were you there, Clarke?” Bunny asked. 

“Two days at a time.” 

“How was it?” Steve asked. 

“Not pleasant. I don’t really like talking about it.” 

“Well get used to it. Your information is all we’re riding on.” 

David drank his water and looked at Steve. “Shut up.” 

Everyone stared at him. Some jaws hung loose. David and Bunny quietly bumped their fists together. 

“What the hell is your problem, Bennett?” Steve crossed his arms. “Why are you suddenly so protective of them? You’re not fucking them again, are you?” 

Rabbit grabbed his shirt collar and yanked him up to her eye level and whispered through gritted teeth. Her eyes went dark, and she dropped to the floor with a loud clank. 

The Spine knelt beside Rabbit and pulled her arm until she was sitting upright and straightened her hat on her head. “Steve, why are you always the one to make something like this happen?” he asked rather calmly despite his eyes glowing brighter than usual and the steam bursting out of his fins. 

“Clarke’s keeping information from us.” 

“You never know when to stop, do you?” 

Rabbit ticked and whirred as she started up again, and she looked up at The Spine. “I di-did it again, didn’t I?” 

He nodded and offered his hand. She took it and pulled herself up. She straightened her skirts and looked at Steve. He stared at his feet. She started to walk but stumbled, and The Spine righted her so she could continue. She gently grabbed my wrist and led me outside. 

“Where are we going?” 

“The duck pond. You know what that is, r-right?” 

I nodded. “I’ve never been there before.” 

“I think you’ll like it. Camille told me you like birds.” 

“Can ducks fly?” 

“Sometimes. These one-ones don’t.” She looked down at my wrist still in her hand and let go. She frowned at the small mark her hand left. “Did I hurt ya?” 

I shook my head. “I barely felt it.” 

She puffed out steam from her eyes. “Are you okay?” 

I nodded. “I don’t know why what he said made everyone angry.” 

“He said a few things that made different people angry. David never tells people to shut up, for instance.” 

“Why did what Steve make him angry?” 

“David has things he doesn’t like talking about, so he understands why you might not want to talk about that place in vivid detail. Steve trying to force you to talk about it made him angry for you, if that makes sense.” 

“Why are you angry at him?” 

“What he said was out of line. He’s starting arguments for no reason. The manor is on edge as it is. We don’t need another issue in it.” 

“Why aren’t you stuttering?” I asked softly. 

“It goes away when I’m upset,” she said quietly as she led me to a small bench overlooking a small pond with ducks swimming around in it. 

“Abraham Lincoln and I used to swordfight by a pond like this,” I said as I sat down. “We wrestled a lot, too. He always let me win because the slits in my back kept bleeding.” 

“The ones your wings come out of?” 

“Yeah, exactly.” 

“Wasn’t he really bad at swordplay?” 

“He was absolutely awful. He just swung a stick around like a madman. He won a duel like that, too. The other guy saw him whacking a tree and backed out. Dean and I swore to never bring it up again. I gave him the idea of using swords instead of guns.” 

Rabbit laughed. “I th-thought that was a myth.” 

I smiled when she stuttered. “He was also a professional wrestler.” 

“Did you ever see him wrestle someone else?” 

“He threw Dean a couple times. He really loved throwing people.” 

“Hey, Rabbit!” The Spine yelled from a nearby tree. “Peter needs you!” 

“I’ll be right there,” she yelled back. “I have to go back in, but you’re welcome to stay out here a while longer.” 

I shook my head. “It’s bright.” 

Rabbit stood and offered her hand. I took it and got up. We walked together to The Spine, who offered his elbow to Rabbit. She took it and tilted her hat lower over her eyes. The Spine took his hat off and reached in front of Rabbit to set it on my head. 

When we got back inside, David has fallen asleep sitting up. Bunny had given up on keeping him awake. Steve was gone, and Michael and Chelsea were putting eggs on plates. 

“Clarke, would you take David to his room, please?” Bunny asked. “You can get Spine to help you.” 

I nodded and carefully woke him up. He sucked in a breath as his eyes opened. He looked around. “Why’s everyone looking at me?” he whispered. 

“You fell asleep,” I told him. “We’re gonna take you back to your room, okay?” 

He nodded and reached toward me. I moved his arm to rest across my shoulders and helped him stand. He leaned heavily on me as we slowly went down the hall. The Spine held his hands cautiously out toward him behind us. 

The Spine pulled the curtain back, and I took David into his room. He fell onto his bed, and The Spine lifted his legs onto the bed and covered him with his blanket. He fell asleep almost immediately.

-

The Spine went into Peter's office and closed the door behind him. "You wanted to see me?" 

"So remember when my father told you and Rabbit that you won't ever be able to feel anything like a human can?" 

"Yes," he said skeptically. 

"Well, I found your 'handbook,' for lack of a better word. Apparently, you can, but no one has been brave enough to let you do it." 

"That's absurd! Why?" 

"You know how Rabbit is, and your spines are already sensitive." 

"Can you do it now?" he asked hopefully. 

"I don't know about Rabbit because her model has changed drastically since she was built, but I can do that for you." 

"Please do. Do I have to power down?" 

He shook his head. "I can do it now, if you want." 

"Yes!" He smiled as wide as his faceplates would allow. 

"Okay, I need you to turn around." 

The Spine did happily and heard fabric shuffling and a panel door in his lower back opening. When it closed again, he felt something soft being tucked into his pants. He turned around with a huge smile. He touched his arm and puffed out a cloud of steam when he felt it. 

Peter smiled behind his mask. "Are you feeling okay?" 

"Oh, I'm fantastic. Thank you." He went back out, flinching at the cold doorknob under his hand. He went to find Rabbit. 

He found her in the HoW with Chelsea digging into her back panel with a screwdriver. She looked up at him and smiled. "Hey, Spine. How's it going?" 

"I can feel things." 

She sighed. "Are you gonna write another sad song?" 

"No, I'm not sad. I'm actually very happy. I can feel things. The doorknob in Peter's office is cold." He smiled. 

"Are you trying to ask me for a hug?" 

The Spine thought for a moment then nodded. Chelsea set the screwdriver down and hugged him. He choked as he slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “This is amazing,” he whispered as he held her tight. He felt oil running down his face, and it was phenomenal. 

“Spine, you’re still really strong,” Chelsea squeaked. 

“I apologize,” he mumbled and loosened his hold again. “Is David functional yet?” 

“Maybe in another half hour, but I’m sure anyone else would be happy to hug you. I’ll let you know when I’m done with Rabbit.” She pulled back and wiped the oil off his face with the palms of her gloved hands. 

“Thank you.” 

The Spine went to the library, where Clarke was pulling a book out of the middle of a stack with unbelievable ease. They stood and smiled, straightening The Spine’s fedora on their head. “Hey, The Spine.” 

The Spine bound toward them and wrapped them up in a tight hug. Their wings came out swiftly, and they hissed. The Spine pulled away. “Did I hurt you?” 

“No,” they laughed breathlessly, “just surprised me.” 

"Can I hug you?" 

"Of course." 

The Spine smiled and hugged them. They wrapped their arms and wings around them. "So soft," he whispered. 

"I thought you can't feel things." 

"Peter found my handbook. I can feel everything." 

Clarke pulled away. "Wouldn't that be awful after years of not feeling anything?" 

"I… haven't considered that. It's great so far. You're a lot warmer than I thought you would be. Warmer than Chelsea." 

They smiled. "Are you gonna hug everyone in the manor now?" 

"... I think I might wait until everyone is functioning. Maybe at dinner." 

"Do you wanna stay with me until then?" 

The Spine nodded and grabbed a book at random from a nearby shelf. Clarke sat on a couch, and The Spine sat with them. He slowly leaned over and set his head on their leg. They draped their wing over his torso. He ran his fingers through the feathers and relished in the softness. 

Clarke pushed his hand away. "I can't focus when you do that," they said softly. They took his hand and held it on his chest. 

“I think I understand why humans crave contact so much,” The Spine mumbled. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty great.” They squeezed his hand. “I’m always open for cuddles, by the way.” 

The Spine hummed as a response and opened his book with his free hand. 

-

Dean limped down the hall toward the library. He went inside and looked down at the photo in his hand. He saw Clarke sleeping on a couch with The Spine doing the robotic equivalent of sleeping beside them. Dean frowned as he picked Clarke’s book up from their lap and stuck the photo between two random pages, making sure a corner was sticking out. He limped back to his designated room. 

-

Zer0 went into the library and saw Clarke and The Spine on a couch with open books in their hands. He pushed The Spine to sit up and closed his book. He picked up Clarke’s book and noticed a paper sticking out of the top. He took it out and gasped when he saw it was a photo of Camille with yellow-green curly hair and her back with two slits along her spine between her shoulder blades among other cuts scattered over her whole body. She was smiling over her shoulder, but her eyes were vacant. 

Zer0 pocketed the photo and tried to pick Clarke up, but their wing was trapped behind The Spine. They could not move any further without someone waking up. He stepped back slowly and left the library. 

He went to Peter’s office and knocked on the door. 

“Come in!” 

Zer0 opened the door and waved at Peter, who was sitting at his desk with a stack of papers in front of him. “Hi, Zer0. What do you need?” 

“We still have that fingerprint thing, right?” 

Peter nodded as he got up. He dug into a cabinet. “Do you have what needs to be tested now?” 

Zer0 took out the photo and held it out. Peter looked down at it and gasped. “That’s awful. Zer0, you’re a genius. Thanks.” He hid behind the door for a few minutes then came out, staring at the photo. “Only Dean’s prints are on it. Where did you find it?” 

“It was in Clarke’s book. Someone must’ve stuck it in there while they were sleeping.” 

“But Dean can’t walk.” 

Zer0 shrugged. 

“Well, I should hold onto this for now. Thanks for this, Zer0. Is that all you needed?” 

Zer0 nodded and left the office. 

-

I woke up alone on the couch in the library I fell asleep on with The Spine. I looked around and spotted his book where he should’ve been without a bookmark in it. I got up and stretched. I went to the HoW, where Chelsea was rebooting Rabbit. “Hey, Chelsea,” I yawned. 

“Hey, Clarke. Have you seen The Spine?” 

“I was gonna ask you the same.” 

She frowned as Rabbit started up. Her eyes lit up, and she frowned. “I can’t feel The Spine,” was the first thing she said. Her eyes widened. “The last thing he sent Zer0 and I wa-” she gasped. “He’s gone.”


End file.
